Enchanted
by stylesmonteith
Summary: She sat with her back against the bar starting at the dance floor watching her two best friends making fools out of themselves. Rachel Berry didn't know why she wasn't curled up in her bed, crying her eyes out over losing her job. Actually, she did.
1. i was enchanted to meet you

She was sitting in a nightclub in all of New York City. She was wearing the best clothes that her money could buy, which was a lot, considering she could barely make her rent this month. She sat with her back against the bar starting at the dance floor watching her two best friends making fools out of themselves. Rachel Berry didn't know why she wasn't curled up in her bed, crying her eyes out over losing her job. Actually, she did.

As soon as she was told she was fired, she called Kurt hysterically crying from the street outside the playhouse, wondering what she did wrong. He picked her up and had to drag her to their apartment, where he had Quinn set up a container of vegan ice cream with three spoons, _Funny Girl_, and Rachel's favorite bunny slippers. They made a valiant effort, but Rachel still felt terrible about everything that happened. That was three weeks ago.

She had thought that everything was going well at her job. She was the understudy for Maureen in the theatre's production of _Rent. _Everything was going swimmingly. She had learned all of her line in the matter of minutes, because she already knew _Rent _by heart, she was a theatre major; it was like a crime not to. She had become friends with everyone in the company. Even the snotty lead who played Roger, a man named Jesse St. James. The stars seemed to be lining up for Rachel, she got to be in New York, with her dreams right within her reach, and until her manager came out of no where telling her she was fired without a warning. She didn't believe him at first, but he threatened to call security on her and with that, she made her famous Rachel Berry storm out, and cried until Kurt had picked her up.

They sat in her apartment watching _Funny Girl _and all of Barbara's other classics every night since she lost her job. She knew that her friends were trying their best by forcing themselves to sit through her favorite movie every night, but she knew that they were losing interest in it by the third week. Quinn eventually grew restless and convinced Kurt, while Rachel was in the bathroom, of course, that they needed to take her out so she could get out of her "mopey stage." So here she was, leaning on the bar watching her two best friends become dancing queens, and she was wallowing in self pity. But, that was okay with Rachel, as long as she had her alcohol to numb the pain.

The night seemed to drag on as both of her friends tried shipping guys over to her, trying to get her out of her funk and on to the dance floor. She wasn't going to lie, there had been some prime choices, and she knew if she wasn't in the funk she was in, they would have been excellent dance partners. Despite her terrible mood however, Rachel Berry was not one to be rude. She had smiled at every man, and forced laughter at their corny jokes, only making them advance on to her stronger. Every time they would ask her to dance, Rachel made up some excuse so that she would have to get up and leave to go to the bathroom, or made up a lame excuse about waiting for her date to come back. She laughed at herself anytime she used the date excuse. It had been so long since Rachel had been on a date that she probably forgot how to even be on one. Her whole life was working, and now she didn't have that. She knew that she didn't need a man to be happy, but, she would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't lonely.

"Rachel!" Kurt called from behind her. She spun around to find her now very drunk friend, hanging all over a guy that looked very uncomfortable to be wearing him as a cape.

"Kurt! Get off of him this instant! You do not know this man," She grabbed at him to pull him off the innocent bystander. "And he certainly does not know you the way you would like him to." She added in as she saw the googley eyes Kurt was showing to his new prey.

"Rachel, he was just so pretty, I wanted to touch him." She rolled her eyes.

Rachel grabbed Kurt by the face to make him look her in the eye. "Where is Quinn, Kurt? She is supposed to be watching you to make sure you didn't drink like this!"

"She met some guy named Puck," Kurt slurred. Rachel's eyes opened wide as she noticed she couldn't see Quinn anywhere anymore. "She's off making out with him somewhere, I don't know…" he said as he slowly started to slide off of the stool. It took Rachel all of her strength to keep, the now passed out, Kurt from sliding off onto the floor. She held Kurt up and as she turned to the crowd to find Quinn, fear creeping through her, she found something else.

Her eyes that were scanning the room frantically to find Quinn were instead focused on the most beautiful man that Rachel had ever laid eyes on. He was tall, _very_ tall and brooding. His face was cleanly shaven and was wearing a cute little half smile on his lips as he talked to the person next to him. She could have sworn she had seen him before, but she couldn't tell if it was just the alcohol in her system, or maybe she secretly wished she had seen him before. As he looked up from the person next to him, she knew that he caught her staring. As they locked eyes, the world seemed to fade away around her. She couldn't read the look he was giving her, but she could tell he was probably thinking the same thing as her.

He began making his way through the dance floor towards her, his eyes still locked on hers. She looked away embarrassed for being caught staring, and nervous because he was coming over to her. However, as she tried to compose herself, reality came crashing down on her. Literally. In her little moment with her "Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome", she had lost her hold on Kurt and he slid off the barstool and onto her, almost pushing her onto the floor.

"Whoa there," a gruff voice said from behind her. A hand reached around her to help lift Kurt back onto the stool with ease. "You gotta watch yourself there, you're awfully small, and how did you manage to hold up him this whole time?"

"Well, actually, I go to the gym and workout everyday, so I am more then capable then to hold up my friend who weighs the same weight as me." She snapped back to the voice without even looking. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me... "She said as she turned to see her handsome stranger, and his magical eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap, it's been a tough week, and now I have this drunken idiot and another friend who's MIA, so it's kinda stressful."

"Don't worry, I understand," he said with a smile. "Would you like some help? I can hold up this buddy of yours while you go and look for the other, if you'd like."

"Actually," Rachel started. "If he wakes up to you, he might try something with you; he is a very frisky gay when he is drunk." Her handsome stranger laughed at her joke and he shot her the cute smile she had seen before.

"I can handle myself with his advances if he wakes up," he winked. "Now you go find your other friend, and I'll meet you right back here." He grabbed Kurt from Rachel's grasp and sat himself on the stool next to him. "My name is Finn, by the way. Finn Hudson." He stuck out his free hand, and Rachel smiled at him.

She grabbed his hand and shook it. "Rachel Berry. And thank you for this Finn, you're very chivalrous" As she turned to walk away, she could swear she heard him ask the person next to him if chivalrous was a good thing.

She didn't even know where to start on her hunt for Quinn. She felt part responsible for letting Quinn run off like this, but she also blamed Kurt because he knows she likes to do these types of things. She made her way to the other side of the dance floor where it was darker. She figured if this _Puck _guy did this on a regular basis, this is where she would have to start. As she walked, she couldn't help but think of the handshake that she had given Finn. She felt electricity when she touched his hand, like a connection or something. Nah, it couldn't be. She had just met him, and the possibility of anything coming out of their sparse meeting was slim to nothing. Finn was just a stranger helping her out because he could.

Finally, she came across what she was looking for, although at this point, she kind of wished she hadn't come across it. Quinn was being held up against the club wall, with this Puck guy's hands on her thighs, pushing her already short dress further up her thighs. Quinn obviously didn't need any rescuing at this point, because she looked to be enjoying it almost as much as he was. They were both too into what they were doing to even notice Rachel behind them.

"Quinn?"

"Go away; can't you see that she's busy?" The man snapped at her quickly, before gluing his lips back to Quinn's. She saw Quinn smirk before she continued where they both left off.

"Quinn, obviously you're taking care of business right now, but I am letting you know that Kurt is completely obliterated, and I am taking him home." There was still no answer and Rachel realized that this was only going to be a one sided conversation. But she continued what she was saying, just so Quinn would know. "Some nice guy named Finn is helping me get him home, so you enjoy what you're doing, and call me tomorrow." With that, Rachel turned and walked back towards the bar, hoping that whatever Quinn and that guy were about to do, would be in the sanctity of an apartment, and not the wall of a nightclub.

"So did you find her?" Finn asked as he saw Rachel walk back towards him, his arm still propping Kurt up on the barstool.

"Yup, she's… occupied at the moment, so I am going to take this lug back to our apartment." She reached for Kurt but Finn's hand stopped her.

"Whoa, whoa. You think that I'm going to make you take him all the way back to your apartment all by yourself? I saw you trying to get him over here before, there is no way that you can get him through the streets of Manhattan all by yourself."

"I am more then capable..."

"I am helping you take him back to your apartment whether you like it or not shorty." He gave her the cute smile that she was already growing a liking to, and helped him get Kurt out of his stool. "Now, how far away do you live?"

"A few blocks," she said as she helped Finn carry Kurt through the club. "You know you really don't have to do this. Besides, I don't know if you're going to, like, kill me or something." She tried to joke, but he caught the flash of worry cross her face.

"I will not kill you, scouts honor. I am just a kind man, being chivalfrous" He held up his hand as he said it, and she couldn't help but smile.

"Chivalrous," She corrected. "And thank you Finn, I really appreciate this." He nodded and helped him open the door.

"But, if you try to kill me, I'll kick your butt. I may be short, but I know how to pack a punch" As Finn chuckled at her joke, she couldn't shake the feeling of being comfortable with him, even though she had met him no more then ten minutes prior.

"Yeah, okay." He joked as he led them out into the streets of New York. She led them down the block toward her apartment. She wondered what to say to him, or if she should even say anything at all. They made it a block and a half in silence.

"So, who are you Finn Hudson?" She decided she should talk, because I mean, she is Rachel Berry after all.

"What do you mean, 'Who am I?', that is a very broad question Ms. Berry." He had an amused look on his face, like he had just laughed at his own joke.

"Where are you from, what do you do, who are you?" She turned and looked at him. "I don't know why, but when I saw you in the club and we locked eyes, I don't know, I could have sworn we've met before. I'm sorry," She looked at her feet. "I know it sounds crazy."

"No actually, I was thinking the exact same thing. I don't know Rach, something just sort of pulled me towards you, like a magnet, like I needed to talk to you. And when I saw you almost fall over, well, it was a good thing you looked at me when you did." He winked. She couldn't help but get butterflies in her stomach when he did. She had only met him a few minutes ago, but the way that they looked at each other, made her want to know everything about him.

"Well, yes then, it is a good thing I looked at you when I did." She couldn't help but to giggle. "So what made you leave a nightclub filled with gorgeous women, and probably your friends, to help me lug my drunken friend home?"

"Well, first off, you're pretty gorgeous yourself, so you shouldn't start by saying that," he winked at her again. And she got the same damn feeling again. "And like I said, you were almost going to be crushed by him," he shifted Kurt's weight. "I had to save you from that."

"Well, thank you for calling me gorgeous," she started. "I wouldn't say that, but I am not one to ignore a compliment from a gentleman. But, you never answered my original question." She glanced past Kurt's head to look him in his gorgeous eyes. "Who are you Mr. Hudson?"

"Well, answering that would mean I knew who I was. You see, I know where I am, and where I came from, but I think that I am still discovering myself, it's why I came to this city." He said. "I grew up in a town called Lima, Ohio, it was a small town, and I always knew that I wanted to leave and get out, but I never could. I ended up working for the tire shop. I was basically the owner's apprentice, and he had a heart attack and couldn't work anymore, so I took over." Rachel listened to him intently, as she continued leading them towards her building. "I made good money, but I knew I wasn't destined to be a mechanic all of my life, so I packed up and moved here. I majored in sports journalism in college, but working in the shop, I never needed it. So that's what I'm doing now." He looked proud of himself and Rachel couldn't help but to admire him for being brave and packing up and moving here. "What about you Miss Rachel, who are you." She felt a blush creep in her cheeks when he looked at her.

"Well, I was born and raised in the city, and unlike you, I have always known what I wanted to do. I want to be a Broadway star." She had forgotten about being sad since she met Finn, but now she remembered why she was sad to begin with. "My dads adopted me here, and never had the heart to leave. They said that they knew I was born to be a star, so they kept me here." He listened intently, like he was focusing on every word that was coming out of her mouth. "I went to all the best schools, studied theatre arts in college. But, I was a daddy's girl, so they showered me in whatever I wanted," she led him across the street. "And I decided I wanted to make a life for myself, so I moved out." She knew that Finn was a stranger, but she continued, feeling like he was more of an old friend catching up on lost time. "Of course, they had their doubts, they didn't think I would be okay by myself. So, when I got a job as a singing waitress at _Ellen's Stardust Diner _to help pay for rent, and told them I was moving in with Kurt and Quinn, they decided it was time to move themselves to New Jersey." He seemed genuinely interested in what she was saying, but she didn't want to tell him about her failed attempt on stage just yet. She pointed to her building as it came into view. "There it is." As they approached, she grabbed Kurt from him. "Thank you, Finn, I have him."

"You're welcome Rachel." He said, as he stared at her. "Do you need my help getting him upstairs, or are you okay?"

"I think I can get him from here, but thank you Finn, it would have been harder to get him home without you." He smiled and nodded.

"Well, I'll leave you too it." He started to turn and walk away.

"Wait, Finn." He stopped and turned back around. "Do you wanna maybe go out sometime? I'll buy." He smiled. "I have to repay you somehow for helping me drag his butt home." She smiled at him, and a big part of her, maybe too big, was glad to see him walk back toward her, with his phone in his hand. "Well thank you again Finn, I will call you tomorrow." She said, as she programmed his number into her own phone. But as Rachel turned to bring her drunken mess of a best friend into the building, Finn grabbed her hand.

"I was enchanted to meet you." He said before turning and walking away.

* * *

><p><strong>First of all, I would like to credit Taylor Swift, for the song "Enchanted", which is what this FanFic is based off of.<br>**Side Note: If you ever get the chance to see her in concert, jump on it, she is one of the most amazing performers you will see live.  
><strong>Second; "Ellen's Stardust Diner" is a real place in New York City. It is located next to the theatre where 'Mama Mia' is, so if you go to see that show, go get a bite to eat at 'Ellen's Stardust' it is delicious and amazing.<br>****Last but not least, I would like to thank my beta; Finchelislove, for helping me with this story. If you enjoyed my story, go check out hers, they are a million times better then mine. :)**

**Review if you would like. If not, thank you for reading my little story.**


	2. keeping lines blurry

"Now, who is this Finn boy?" Quinn asked her.

"That's the first thing you say to me when you call me? Not an 'I'm alive', or an 'I just had the best sex in my life last night', but you ask me who the boy I was with last night?" she could hear Quinn snicker through the phone.

"It's not like I lost my hearing last night when you were talking to me, I just couldn't respond back, my mouth was otherwise occupied. So he helped you carry Kurt home? How is our little sleeping beauty by the way? Has he woken up to see his messed up hair yet?"

"No, not yet, but we both know we should make an appointment now, he's just going to drag us there later. I'll call Sally and make sure she can squeeze us in at two."

"Yeah, that's true. Tell her that I need to get an eyebrow wax too. That way I won't have to go before the company party next week. Now spill missy, I want to know all the dirty details about this Finn guy." Quinn always had a way of telling when Rachel tried to steer away from a topic.

"There's nothing to tell Quinn, nothing happened, we just talked, that's all." Really, nothing had happened…

"_Wait, Finn. Do you wanna maybe go out sometime? I'll buy, I have to repay you somehow for helping me drag his butt home." She smiled at him, shifting Kurt back up as she saw him walk back toward her, with his phone in his hand. _

"_Well, it would be a shame to pass up a free lunch offer." He smirked at her, and she knew she felt something she shouldn't feel for a complete stranger. They exchanged numbers and as Rachel could turn to drag Kurt along with her, a strong hand on her own stopped her. She looked up to see his face inches from hers. _

_ "Well Miss Berry, it was enchanting to meet you." He whispered as he tucked a loose hair behind her ear. She couldn't form any words to answer that, so she just simply smiled as he turned and walked away. _

_ She walked to the elevator with a snoring Kurt in tow and couldn't help but to blush at the words that Finn had said. She went from a moping mess, to a blushing school girl in the matter of an hour, and she didn't even regret it._

Quinn's voice broke her from her daydream. "Is talking the code word for sex these days? Because if it is, then me and Puck talked a LOT last night." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Quinn that is not even the slightest bit attractive for a woman to be admitting, even to her best friend. But no, we talked, as in spoke, with words, not with actions."

"Is he cute? Please tell me he's cute. Kurt wasn't awake, so he didn't see what he looked like. Did you at least get his phone number so that you can call him?"

"Yes, Quinn. I did get his phone number, and he is more then cute, he is drop dead gorgeous. I am taking him to lunch to thank him for helping me bring Kurt home."

"Well, does he have a girlfriend? Is that something that you guys spoke about?" She could tell that Quinn was making fun of her, but she was distracted by the question at hand. That one question made Rachel's stomach drop. She hadn't asked him if he had a girlfriend. What if he has a girlfriend?

"I didn't get to ask him." _Shit. _ There she was thinking about this man that she met at a bar, not knowing if he was single or not. But he said he was enchanted to meet her. Not that it was nice to meet her, or anything casual, he said _enchanted. _

"Well, I would find out Rachel, you don't want to be going out with someone who has another woman in his life, trust me, it turns messy." Rachel laughed recalling the time Quinn went on a date unknowing that the man was married. _That_ was a disaster.

"I know Q, I'm going to call him later to set up when to meet with him. We'll talk more then. And I'll make sure that he doesn't have a secret wife." She laughed, and Quinn laughed too.

"Okay, well I'm going to go, I'm still at Puck's place, and I wanna get another round in before I come home."

"LUCY QUINN FABRAY! I did not need to know that piece of information!" She squeaked in shock. "And why in the world would you call me from his apartment instead of just telling me all of this when you got home?"

"Hey, it's not my fault you're a prude. And you said it yourself, that you wanted to know that I was alive." She could hear the smirk in Quinn's voice.

"Whatever, Quinn, I'll see you when playtime is over," and with that she snapped her phone shut. She was not a prude! She just didn't like sharing details like that to anyone, not even her best friend. Some things were too private to share.

* * *

><p>"Who was that Quinn?" Puck asked sleepily shifting from laying down to sitting up.<p>

"It was Rachel, she was talking to me about Finn."

"Oh, so our little plan is working, huh?" Puck said as he pulled Quinn closed to him. "When are you going to tell her and that Kurt guy that I am not just some random hookup you met at the bar, and that I'm your boyfriend?"

"Eventually, I will. She's been going through a tough time. She was finally performing and was happy and then she got fired, she's miserable and lonely, and maybe now that she met Finn…"

"And when are you going to tell her that you had your boyfriend secretly set her up with his best friend? She thinks she just randomly met him in a club, and he was being all nice helping her bring Kurt home." He noticed she was shaking her head. "Quinn, you need to tell her at least the truth about Finn, you don't want her to fall for this guy and then find out that he was sent to her…" His concern for her best friend, who he hadn't even met yet, was adorable to her.

But, Quinn held her hand up to stop Puck from speaking any more. "No Puck, she doesn't need to know. Kurt being drunk wasn't planned. Finn was only supposed to go over to her and get her to dance and talk to her. He helped her get Kurt home on his own accord. And if Kurt had been sober, like he was supposed to," Puck could tell that she was annoyed that her perfect plan had been disturbed by Kurt's weakness for cotton candy martinis. He laughed as he remembered how loose Kurt was getting on the dance floor. "Rachel would have been able to stay out with Finn longer, and maybe even gotten some action last night. "

"I don't know babe, from what you described, she doesn't really seem like the one night stand kind of girl."

"Well I know that she's not Puck, but a girl can't help but dream that her best friend would finally get some so that she'll stop torturing me with Barbara Streisand."

"Hey, don't knock Barbara, she may be slightly annoying in long doses, but my mom loves her. Us Jews have to stick together." He wagged his eyebrow. "Now can we stop talking, and find a more productive way to use our time? He lifted the sheet and pulled her under it, laying her on his chest.

"Okay, Puckasaurus," she said as she kissed his lips. "But, I guess I should thank Kurt for getting drunk." She smirked.

"And why is that?" He kissed her back, this time with more force trying to get her to do more action instead of talking.

"Because A) She did get Rachel to spend more time with Finn, because we both know that she probably would have just blown him off, and B) I would have probably ended up dragging Kurt's drunken ass home and I wouldn't have been able to spend the night with you." She said as she brought her lips down to his neck.

Puck groaned and flipped them over so he was on top. "I like drunk Kurt, we should get him drunk more often." And with that, they successfully got in another two rounds before Quinn decided to drag her ass home.

* * *

><p>Rachel heard the front door open and was glad to see Quinn walk through, still wearing the same clothes as she had the night before. "I'm glad to see you're alive," Rachel quipped. "Kurt has been bitching all morning for us to take him out to get our hair done. You <strong>know<strong> how he gets when he has a hangover, why would you leave me alone like that?" She said rising from the couch. Quinn just laughed silently as she took off her shoes and placed her clutch on the kitchen counter, as she reached for the door of the fridge.

"Okay, fine," she said as she grabbed a water bottle. "Let me go take a shower, and then we can be on our way to get our hair done. And maybe we can get some lunch, I worked up a huge appetite this morning." She winked at Rachel's annoyed face. Quinn knew how much Rachel hated when she spoke about her sexcapades in front of her, but in some ways, Rachel was always jealous of Quinn, and her ability to do the things she did.

Twenty minutes later, Quinn emerged from the bathroom, looking as good as new. And as if it were planned, Kurt emerged from his bedroom, ready to go. "Let's go out for sushi!" Kurt exclaimed, and Quinn nodded her head furiously. He seemed like he was feeling a lot better then he was earlier this morning, and Rachel knew once Quinn and Kurt set their minds on a food place, there was no changing them.

"Sushi it is!" Rachel said, as she grabbed her bag from the coat hook next to their front door. "But, I get to choose the place." She heard Kurt and Quinn moan as she opened the door. They both knew what was coming, and they suddenly agreed they would have opted for pizza instead.

They arrived at the karaoke sushi restaurant a little after two. Rachel knew that she should have called Finn by now, but she decided she would wait until she wasn't stuck with Kurt and Quinn next to her. They sat at their usual table, next to the giant fish tank. Rachel always loved to watch the fish as she ate. She knew it was kind of ironic to be eating their friends in front of them, but she didn't care.

"Yes, we know you want to be a mermaid Rachel, you don't need to keep staring at the fish." Rachel felt herself blush when Kurt called her out on her secret dream.

"Shut up, Kurt," she snapped. "It's not stupid, you wanted to be a ballerina when you were a kid."

"Yes, but ballerinas are real things, mermaids, on the other hand, are imaginary creatures of the sea."

"Okay you two, cut it out." Quinn said as sat between the two of them. "Am I going to have to play mother again? Like every other time we come here and you go after her for secret dream?" She asked, putting a fake mother like tone in her voice. Rachel stuck her tongue out at Kurt and turned to face the fish again. It wasn't stupid to want to be a mermaid, Rachel thought. It was normal to have dreams of being something better then you were, right? She thought about Finn as she looked at the fish. Although he only talked to him for ten minutes, she felt like he would understand what she imagined about being a mermaid.

"You guys going to have your usual?" the waitress asked. All three nodded and laughed that every waitress in the restaurant seemed to know their usual. As she nodded and walked away, Rachel turned her attention to the people singing karaoke, badly. They were singing a off pitch version of "I Feel Like A Woman" by Shania Twain. The three of them couldn't help but to belt along with the singer and laugh as they did it.

As they finished up the song, Rachel's phone went off. She couldn't help but gasp as she saw the name "Finn" pop up on her screen, and she hesitated to answer it. Before Rachel could hide the screen from view, Quinn saw and grabbed the phone from her and answered it herself. Rachel stared in shock as Quinn said "Hello, Rachel Berry's phone."

"QUINN!" Rachel squeaked as she reached t grab her phone.

"No, this isn't Rachel, it's her friend Quinn. Rachel is in the shower at the moment, but she told me if you called, I could answer it." She lied coolly. Rachel felt rage bubble up inside her, while Kurt watched the both of them, blissfully unaware of the scene that was unfolding in front of him. "Uh huh," Quinn said, as she mouthed a 'be quiet' to a stunned and furious Rachel. "Well, Finn, you can just pick Rachel up at our apartment." Rachel glared. "I assume you know which one that is, Rachel told me how kind you were last night helping her walk our friend home." With that comment, Kurt looked like a deer in the headlights.

"WHAT!" Kurt shrieked. "YOU LET SOME STRANGER CARRY ME HOME, RACHEL!"

"SHHHH!" Quinn said loudly, trying to continue the conversation with Finn despite Kurt's girly screams. "Sorry Finn, yes, that is the building, our apartment is 14D, you can come and pick her up around 8. Uh huh, yes. That's great Finn, she will see you later." Rachel could see a small smirk form on Quinn's lips as she hung up Rachel's phone and handed it back to her. "What?" she asked innocently. "He's going to pick you up at eight tonight. Me and Kurt will go out or something, and make ourselves scarce until tomorrow, right Kurt?"

"I am still fuming over the fact that Rachel had a stranger carry me home, and now I am leaving my apartment for the night for that stranger? What is the matter with you Quinn? Weren't you supposed to be on my drink duty last night?"

"Kurt, just go ask Blaine if you can spend the night at his house. I know that you guys are more then just friends, and you're having commitment issues with him," Kurt looked stunned at Quinn's words. She noticed. "I may have heard you on the phone yesterday before we went out," she explained. "But, you love him, you know it, so just go to his house and do the do, and then maybe Rachel can get some tonight." She said with and evil grin on her face. Rachel just sat there in shock. This was going to be a long day.

She was angry about Quinn taking her phone and answering her phone call, letting Kurt know a stranger had carried him home, and now angry that Quinn basically implied that Rachel was going to have sex tonight. This was a mess. Their food arrived and she ate in silence as Quinn explained to Kurt the events of the evening before. They then decided it was time for them to sign karaoke, something that Rachel did not want to do, and promptly told them so. So, when her named was called on the sign up sheet, she simply glared at them as she stood up to tale the stage. And then she decided, not only was today going to be a long day, she also needed new friends.

She felt like she was going to die. She had been throwing up for a full hour, and it didn't seem like she was going to stop anytime soon. Kurt and Quinn had already left, so there was no one there to help her. She laid her face on the toilet seat, and the cool touch of the porcelain made her overheated skin feel nice. She couldn't understand why she was throwing up like this, but she had a feeling that her sushi tasted funny during lunch today. She was mid-puke when she heard the doorbell ring. _Shit _she thought to herself. In all that time, she had forgotten that she was supposed to go out on a date. A date with one of the most beautiful men she had ever met, and she's laying with her head on the toilet bowl, drenched in sweat, puke, and god knows what else. "I'm coming!" she yelled as loud as she could, but she knew it was barely louder then her normal speaking voice.

"Shit, shit, fuck." She said as she stood up and made her way to the door. When she opened it, she saw him standing there, with his cute little smirk on his face, which slowly faded as he took in the sight in front of him. "You have to go, I'm sick, I can't…" She couldn't even finish her sentence as she ran back to the bathroom. _Oh yeah, this was going to be a really long night._

* * *

><p><strong>Credit time! :)<br>As I said in my previous chapter, Taylor Swift is to be thanked for her lyrics. I used lyrics from "Enchanted" as the title of chapter one, and the song "Dear John" for this one.  
>Again, a big thank you to Finchelislove; go check out her stuff. She's amazing!<br>****Thank you for reading my little story, review or don't, I'm just happy this is being looked at. :D **


	3. i see, sparks fly, whenever you smile

**This one is a little shorter then the others, only because it is setting up for their date. Damn that Rachel, she's so hard to work with when she's puking all over the place.**

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><p>He had thought about her all day, something that he had not been expecting. When his best friend Puck had told him to meet him in a nightclub, he didn't think it would be for the reason he was there. Finn was expecting to hang out with his buddy, have a few beers, and go home. But when he got there, things were different then he expected;<p>

_Finn walked into Ice excited to spend his evening looking at women dancing, and knocking back a few with Puck. He noticed Puck in the far dark corner of the bar, surrounded by girls. Finn raised his eyebrows at the new pickings that his friend had set up for himself as he walked toward Puck. _

"_Dude, there you are!" Puck said with an irritated look on his face. As he got closer, he noticed Puck had his arm around, what he assumed, was his new girlfriend, Quinn._

"_Hey man," he said, bumping fists with Puck. He turned to face the blonde, "You must be Quinn," he said, offering his hand. She smiled and nodded as she shook back. He could swear he saw her check him out as he turned and nodded at the other girls surrounding them. "Ladies," he said, and turned back to face his friend._

"_Finn," he heard Quinn say. "Do you think you could do me a favor?" she aksed. "I mean, you don't have to, but it would be very good for both me and Puck here," she said as she rubbed her hand on Puck's chest. Gross._

"_Sure, Quinn, what is it?"_

"_My friend Rachel is sitting at the bar, alone, moping about losing her job. She's gorgeous, and single, and needs a companion. Do you think that you could go over there and talk to her, maybe try to get her to dance or something? She really could use it. I would go over there, but she has been making me watch Funny Girl every night for the past three weeks, and I need a little break from her."_

_Finn looked at Puck, and could tell by the look he was receiving that Puck had been the person to hear Quinn's complaints the last three weeks. "I'm not a very good dancer; she would probably laugh at me or something." He said as he scratched the back of his neck. _

"_Even better, she needs a good laugh!" Quinn giggled. "But she is not the type to laugh at people for not being able to do something. If I'm being honest, besides being one of the most beautiful people in the world, and being ridiculously talented, Rachel is one of the nicest people that you could ever meet, and I thank God, or whoever else, everyday that I met her." He could see her eyes water, and wondered just how much alcohol Quinn had consumed before he got there. "When Rachel opens you up into her world, there is nothing greater, take that from me Finn, now go and talk to her!" she said, as she pointed towards the bar._

"_Finn," Puck started, pulling him by the shoulder to make sure no one else heard him, "Listen to the girl, she might be drunk as a skunk right now, but from what I've heard, Rachel is a pretty great person, and you need one of those in your life, considering the last person that you actually had a relationship with made you think she was pregnant with your baby." Finn winced at the all too familiar memory of his ex girlfriend. "It's time for you to move on, and look, you don't even have to date her, you just gotta talk to her. It would mean a lot to Quinn, and if it means a lot to her, then do it."_

"_Wow Puck, I've never heard you talk this way about a girl before, getting soft on me buddy?" Finn joked._

"_Never, you asshole," he said as he pushed Finn towards the bar. "Now go talk to this chick, or I will kick your ass." That's the Puck he knew. Puck stood up and left Quinn to hide so Rachel couldn't see her. He walked with Finn towards the dance floor. "Now, I don't know which one Rachel is, Q has only told me stories about her, but from what I hear, she has a killer ass, Quinn is always wishing she had one like hers, so if all else fails, get them all to stand up and look at their behinds, you'll get quite the show." He winked, as Finn couldn't help but to laugh. _

_As he looked towards the bar, a small brunette caught his eye. She was standing, trying to hold up her friend on a stool with one hand. But what was most interesting to him, was that she was staring at him too. When they locked eyes, Finn felt the world melt away around him, drowning out whatever other perverted remarks his friend was making. All he could see were her beautiful eyes, and he couldn't help but to think she was staring into his soul. His feet moved him towards her, before he could even stop himself, he didn't know who she was, but he needed to find out. _

_As he got closer, he noticed that she was having a lot of trouble keeping up her friend, and as he saw the friend almost push her to the floor, he reached out his hand to help. _

"_Whoa there," he said, his voice sounding deeper then it usually did, "You gotta watch yourself there, you're awfully small, and how did you manage to hold up him this whole time?" he thought that he was being cute by saying something like that, but he learned that he was wrong._

_ "Well, actually, I go to the gym and workout everyday, so I am more then capable then to hold up my friend who weighs the same weight as me." She snapped back at him without even looking. She soon realized how she sounded and turned to look at him. "I'm sorry, that was rude of me..." As she took in who was standing in front of her, she seemed to lose track of her thoughts. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap, it's been a tough week, and now I have this drunken idiot and another friend who's MIA, so it's kinda stressful."_

_ "Don't worry, I understand," he said with a smile. "Would you like some help? I can hold up this buddy of yours while you go and look for the other, if you'd like."_

_ "Actually," she started. "If he wakes up to you, he might try something with you; he is a very frisky gay when he is drunk." Finn laughed. He could tell by her friends outfit that he was gay, but he knew that he could handle it. _

_ "I can handle myself with his advances if he wakes up," he winked. "Now you go find your other friend, and I'll meet you right back here." He grabbed he friend from her grasp and stuck out his hand for her to shake. "My name is Finn, by the way. Finn Hudson." He gave her his signature smile, which he had heard it went well with the ladies. _

_ She grabbed his hand. "Rachel Berry. And thank you for this Finn, you're very chivalrous" She said as she shook it._

_ He turned to the person next to him "Is chivalrous a good thing? He asked, and like himself, that guy had no idea. He was glad that Quinn and Puck had sent him to the bar to talk to her. And as he stared at her ass as she walked away, he decided he was very glad that Puck had sent him to talk to her. _

As he walked to her apartment, he couldn't help but smile that he got to spend more time with her. He was waiting for her to call him like she said, but when he got a text from Puck saying, "**Dude call her; Quinn is up my ass.**" he scrolled through his contacts to her number and pressed send. The conversation he had with Quinn was interest to say the least, and he thought it was funny to hear, a screech from who he assumed to be Kurt, about Finn carrying him home. But as Quinn and him set up the details of how to go out he couldn't help but to become excited.

As he approached the door to the complex however, he became nervous, what were they supposed to talk about? Hadn't they discussed the most important thing last night? He smiled as he remembered the question she had asked him.

"_So, who are you Finn Hudson?" They had been silent for a while and he was waiting for her to speak, so he wouldn't start talking about stupid things she wouldn't find interesting. He knew they had just met, but he couldn't help feeling like he wanted to impress her, so when she opened her mouth, he felt super relieved. _

_ "What do you mean, 'Who am I?', that is a very broad question Ms. Berry." He couldn't help but laugh, it seemed like a silly question to him. _

_ "Where are you from, what do you do, who are you?" She turned and looked at him. "I don't know why, but when I saw you in the club and we locked eyes, I don't know, I could have sworn we've met before. I'm sorry," She looked at her feet. He could tell that she was nervous, a feeling he knew all too well "I know it sounds crazy."_

_ "No actually, I was thinking the exact same thing." Was she a mind reader or something? "I don't know Rach, something just sort of pulled me towards you, like a magnet, like I needed to talk to you. And when I saw you almost fall over, well, it was a good thing you looked at me when you did." He winked. He could see her smile at his wink, and smiled himself. _

_ "Well, yes then, it is a good thing I looked at you when I did." She giggled. He liked the sound of it. "So what made you leave a nightclub filled with gorgeous women, and probably your friends, to help me lug my drunken friend home?" He hadn't really thought about the other women in the club after he met Rachel, but he couldn't very well say that to her. _

_ "Well, first off, you're pretty gorgeous yourself, so you shouldn't start by saying that," he winked at her again, just to gauge her reaction. He got the same one, and couldn't help but to feel like he accomplished something. "And like I said, you were almost going to be crushed by him," he shifted Kurt's weight. He might be tiny, but this Kurt kid sure weighed a lot. "I had to save you from that."_

_ "Well, thank you for calling me gorgeous," she started. "I wouldn't say that, but I am not one to ignore a compliment from a gentleman. But, you never answered my original question." She glanced past Kurt's head to look him. He got lost in her eyes for a second before she realized she wanted an actual answer from him. "Who are you Mr. Hudson?"_

_ "Well, answering that would mean I knew who I was. You see, I know where I am, and where I came from, but I think that I am still discovering myself, it's why I came to this city." He said. He wasn't lying, he really didn't know who he wanted to be, and he thought that New York would be a good place to start. "I grew up in a town called Lima, Ohio, it was a small town, and I always knew that I wanted to leave and get out, but I never could. I ended up working for the tire shop. I was basically the owner's apprentice, and he had a heart attack and couldn't work anymore, so I took over." He saw her listen intently, and he couldn't help but smile. No girl had ever listened to him when he spoke, they usually just talked about themselves all the time. "I made good money, but I knew I wasn't destined to be a mechanic all of my life, so I packed up and moved here. I majored in sports journalism in college, but working in the shop, I never needed it. So that's what I'm doing now." He could see she was satisfied with his answer, and decided to challenge her with her own question. "What about you Miss Rachel, who are you." He saw her blush, even though she tried to hide it._

_ "Well, I was born and raised in the city, and unlike you, I have always known what I wanted to do. I want to be a Broadway star." She looked like she started to frown. "My dads adopted me here, and never had the heart to leave. They said that they knew I was born to be a star, so they kept me here." He could see what her dads meant, she looked like she should be a star, she had the look, and Quinn said she was extremely talented, so why couldn't she be? "I went to all the best schools, studied theatre arts in college. But, I was a daddy's girl, so they showered me in whatever I wanted," she led him across the street. "And I decided I wanted to make a life for myself, so I moved out." He was wondering why she was getting so personal, but he figured it was just because she felt comfortable with him. He was glad she did, because she felt the exact same way. _

"_Of course, they had their doubts, they didn't think I would be okay by myself. So, when I got a job as a singing waitress at Ellen's Stardust Diner to help pay for rent, and told them I was moving in with Kurt and Quinn, they decided it was time to move themselves to New Jersey."_

He walked up the stairs to her door. "8D, 10D, 12D, here we go." He said to himself as he knocked on her door. He thought he heard her say she was coming, but he couldn't really tell. He was more focused on the fact that his heart was beating really, really fast, something that he hadn't experienced since he was in high school. He didn't know why he felt so nervous, she was just a girl, and they were just going out to a thank you dinner, they never classified it as a date. Before he could panic any more then he already was he heard her voice, and a very distinct "Shit, shit, fuck."

He smiled at her as she opened the door, but it quickly faded as he took in the sight in front of him. She looked completely pale and drained, and like she hadn't slept in weeks. "You have to go, I'm sick, I can't…" her sentence got cut off as she put her hand over her mouth and ran towards, what he assumed, was the bathroom. He heard her vomit and couldn't help but to feel bad for her. He didn't know if he should stay or go, so he called to her. "Rach?" he said. "Are you okay? I don't want to leave you if you're sick like this." He decided to go see if she was okay, and he stepped into her apartment and shut her door.

As he walked toward the bathroom, he couldn't help but notice the decorations that adorned the walls. There were dozens of different playbills from Broadway shows, and pictures of her and her friends. He stopped when he saw a picture of Rachel, and what he assumed was Quinn, both wearing cap and gowns, holding diplomas. He smiled when he noticed just how pretty Rachel was. He hadn't really been paying attention to it before, he was too busy trying to carry her friend home, but she really was something special.

He nose wasn't normal, but to him, it made her seem more special. Her hair flowed down to her shoulders that framed her face perfectly. Her smile was the brightest one he had ever seen. He remembered how she smiled at him in person the night before, and how she had given him butterflies, and her smile even spread to her eyes. He saved those for last. Her beautiful brown eyes had some sort of a power over him, he wasn't sure why they did, but he was aiming to find out.

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><p><strong>Thanks to Taylor Swift's music keeping me focused as I'm writing this. I literally cannot write anything without her playing in the background.<br>Thank you for reading, the next chapter should be done sometime this week, I need to get started on a research paper for my writing class, that is due in like a week.  
>Special thanks to Finchelislove for putting up with me. Go check out her amazing stories. :)<br>And as always, thank you guys for reading. :D **


	4. i do now recall, the smell of the rain

**Here you go guys, Chapter 4; Lyrics for the title from Taylor Swift's "Last Kiss". This is the last of the stuff I have written so far. And I decided to go out to my friends after work today, so I haven't written anymore yet. Alas, I has work tomorrow, but as soon as I'm done, I'll try to get another chapter for you. I know where I want to take this, so it's just gonna be me trying to put the words to paper. :)**

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><p>He made his way into the bathroom just in time to see Rachel retch into the toilet. "Finn," she said weakly, "please go, I don't want you to see me like this." He ignored her, and walked over to help her hold her hair, as she turned her face back to the toilet.<p>

"I don't care, Rach, you're sick, you need help. Now I know that you are more then capable to take care of yourself," he said as he saw a look of irritation flash to her face. "But, I am not going to leave you all alone tonight throwing up all over, and I certainly am not letting you stay here and clean up after yourself, you're just going to get sick again."

"Quinn and Kurt will be home, they can help..." She said, as she tried to get herself off of the floor.

"Okay, well I'll leave you when they get here, but until then," he said as he picked her up into his arms, "You are not staying in this apartment by yourself. Rachel, you are a mess, and from the warmth of your forehead," he put his hand to feel her temperature, "you have a fever. Do you want to try and take a shower? Or do you want to go to bed?"

"I don't think I could shower, I can barely stand up straight."

"I can help you," he said. "Not in a creepy way," he promised as she looked at him with her eyebrows raised. "I swear, I will help you get undressed, I will NOT look," he promised, raising his hand. "Scouts honor." He saw her smirk and had a feeling that he would win this. "And I will turn on the water for you, and I will wait right outside the bathroom in case you need me."

"Okay," she agreed, as he sat her on the ledge of her bathtub. She seemed like she was too tired to even argue with him as he helped her take off her shirt. He was very thankful that in all her vomiting, that she had gotten it everywhere but on herself. He tried his hardest not to look, but his curiosity got the best of him and he eventually looked at Rachel shirtless.

"Okay, I looked." He admitted, earning a small laugh from Rachel, she seemed too tired to even care anymore, because after he said that, she managed to stand herself up and take off her pants. Finn gulped as he took in the sight of Rachel in her bra and panties. But any lust for her vanished as she ran back to the toilet to throw up for the third time since he got there.

"Finn, help me, please?" she said quietly, and he walked over to her, and picked her up in his arms. E felt her forehead again. He could tell that she was starting to burn up. He had been sick like her before, and he knew that he had to get her to cool down, or she could pass out from a fever. Thank goodness his mom was a nurse, otherwise he wouldn't know what to do in this situation. He placed her back on the edge of the tub, and stripped his shirt off. "What are you doing?" she asked. She tried to hide it, but he could tell that she was checking him out.

"Rach, there is no way that you can do this by yourself. You're burning up, and I need to get you to cool off. I know that this is really a weird situation, but I am going to help you in there, but I _swear _to you, that I will not do anything creepy or gross. My mom is a nurse, and I've been in your shoes before, and she was the one helping me out." She smiled weakly. "So count your blessings." Before she could stop him, he turned on the water, adjusting it so that it was a nice temperature. He scooped her back up into his arms, and stepped into the tub, letting the water hit her on her over heated skin. "If you need to throw up, it's okay, I will clean the tub, and everywhere else you got. Just relax, I've got you."

He placed her back down on the ground under the shower head. He heard her sigh as the water hit her skin. She didn't seem to care that she was still in her underwear, just like he didn't care that he was getting the only clothes that he had soaked. "Thank you, Finn." She said as she reached for a shampoo bottle. He grabbed it from her.

"I've got it," he said, as he poured shampoo into his hand. "And you're welcome Rachel. Let's get you washed up, and then I'll help you get to bed." He lathered her head in shampoo, and massaged it into her head. When he finished, he helped her rinse it out, and repeated the process again, when she told him that she needed conditioner as well, otherwise she would get split ends. Even when she was sick, Rachel Berry sure was bossy. He climbed out of the tub after that, to let her wash herself, searching for a towel for her.

As he looked through the cabinets in the bathroom, he found what he was looking for. As he closed the mirrored door, she saw the reflection of Rachel dispose of her soaked underwear through the shower curtain. He hadn't thought of the mailman in a while, but he found himself thinking about the day he almost killed a civil service person as he held the towel, waiting for Rachel to grab it. When she did, he turned around, so he couldn't see Rachel OR the mirror. "Okay, you can look now." She said. He turned to she her tied into her towel, looking like she had slightly more color, but she still looked like he had hit her with the mail truck, instead of the mailman. He was surprised as she reached to him to pick her up. "I'm too tired to walk." She said, and he chuckled to himself as he took her back into his arms. He soon learned that had no qualms about carrying her, he actually enjoyed the feeling; she fit perfectly in his arms.

He walked out into the hallway, and realized he had no idea where he was going. She pointed him in the direction of her bedroom, and he walked. When they entered, he placed her on the bed "Where are your clothes?" he asked, as he looked around the room. He felt stupid as he saw her dresser, but she didn't laugh.

"My- undergarments, are in the top left drawer, and the right one has my pajamas. Finn, you don't have to do this…" she stopped talking as he closed his eyes and reached into her underwear drawer. He felt like a creeper if he looked at it all, and he knew if he saw it, he wouldn't be able to help himself picturing her in them. With his eyes still closed, he walked towards her, and when he felt her grab them from him, he turned around and opened his eyes again.

"I am not looking at all. It was bad enough I invaded your privacy looking at you in the bathroom." He opened her pajama drawer and grabbed the first pair of pants and shirt he could find. He closed his eyes again and turned around. He expected her to grab them from him, but he opened his eyes when he heard light snoring in front of him.

Rachel had passed out on her bed. She looked so innocent and cute when she slept. She must have been just trying to relax a bit while he got her pajamas. But as Finn took his eyes off of Rachel's face, he had realized just how Rachel fell asleep. Her towel was hanging off of her, leaving part of her exposed. Finn couldn't help but stare at her, but then he noticed that she still held the underwear that he had hander her in her hand. Rachel had not only fallen asleep on him, but she had fallen asleep on him naked. Completely. Naked.

_Fuck my life! _Finn thought to himself. _She couldn't have put on her underwear before she passed out?_ He didn't know what he was going to do. He didn't want to violate her privacy by dressing her while she was naked, but he also knew that if she woke up naked, she might get the wrong idea. He decided that he would dress her. He wouldn't put her in a bra, because that might be a really weird position to wake up too, and any other girl that he ever dated didn't ever sleep in a bra. The underwear would also be weird, but he made himself swear he wasn't going to look, and he intended to stick to his promise.

He wrapped her back in the towel, so that he couldn't see her anymore, and he slid her panties up her legs and onto her bottom, thankful that he didn't grab a thong out of the drawer. He then reached for her pants, and with several failed attempts at getting them on her without moving her too much, he decided to just leave her in her underwear and work on getting her a shirt on. He gently lifted her off the bed and sat her up, supporting her gently. He grabbed her tee-shirt and slid it over her head.

As he tried to maneuver her arms through the holes, he could see her eyes start opening. "Hey, sleepyhead," he said coolly, trying not too scare her, but he could tell she was out of it. "I'm just trying to get you ready for bed, can you help me get your shirt on?" She helped him move her arms through the shirt holes, and closed her eyes again. As she fell back into her deep slumber, he pulled her into his arms, and moved her to the top of the bed, moving her blankets aside and tucking her in. "Goodnight, Rachel," he said. And as he looked at her sleeping in her big bed, he couldn't fight his urge and he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

He had known this girl for a total of maybe twelve hours, and he could already tell that he was falling for her. He didn't know if it was going to be a problem for him or not, but as he stood watching her sleep, he realized he didn't care. He looked around the room and saw she had a linen hamper, that was luckily empty, and he moved it to the floor next to her head incase she had to throw up again in the middle of the night.

He had remembered when he was sick like this, he would wake up in the middle of the night incredibly thirsty, so he walked into the kitchen to get her a glass of water. He found the cups fairly easily, only almost breaking three things while he looked. He filled up the cup with water from the tap and brought it back into her room, placing it on the nightstand next to Rachel.

"Hey Rach," he whispered to her as he bent down next to her. She stirred a bit in her sleep as he continued talking. "I brought you some water in case you get thirsty in the middle of the night, and there's a hamper here incase you feel like you're going to throw up again. I'm gonna go clean up a bit, you get as much sleep as you need."

As he left the room, he realized that he was still soaking wet from when he went into the shower with her. He wondered if she had a washing machine and dryer that he could use while she was asleep. Puck had told him before he came over that Kurt and Quinn were going to be out all night, something Rachel didn't know that he knew, so he figured it would be safe to walk around and air dry his boxers. He walked into the bathroom and grabbed his shirt off the floor, along with Rachel's, and her sopping wet underwear and went on a search for the washer.

After fifteen minutes of searching, he found them, and quickly stripped of his jeans and socks and threw them, her clothes, and his shirt in, poured in detergent, and shut the door. Good thing his mom taught him how to do laundry, otherwise he would have been fucked.

He decided while he waited for his clothes to be done, he would clean her bathroom. He didn't want her to wake up and have to clean it herself. And plus, all of the cleaning supplies were in the closet in front of him, so he wouldn't have to go find them. He grabbed paper towels and cleaning spray and headed back into the bathroom.

When he finished cleaning, and changed over the laundry, he decided to go check on Rachel. He popped his head into her room, she was still fast asleep. But as he turned to leave, he noticed something sticking out from underneath her bed. He walked to the bed and reached underneath. He chuckled to himself when he saw bunny slippers in his hands. He gently lifted the covers by her feet, and slid the slippers on them, just incase her feet got cold in the middle of the night. He stepped back to view her sleeping form. He couldn't tell if it was the way she was snoring, the way she was cuddled into her blanket, the way that her newly added bunny slippers made her look, or all of the above that made her look more adorable to him then she had when they met. He covered her feet back up, and left her to her slumber, as he went to go check on his clothes.

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><p><strong>Ugh, I just realized how short this chapter is. I really didn't mean to! I promise. :)<br>Rachel is just a diva when she doesn't get all the spotlight, and don't you Klaine fans worry your pretty little heads, I'm gonna be bringing them together for you to see soon!  
><strong>**As always, thank you to Finchelislove; and go, go, go, read her writing. It has literally made me feel so much emotion I cry! And she also has a really epic Halloween story that she wrapped up today, so go check that out!  
>I'll update as soon as I can, unless I decide not to have a life on my last day of Thanksgiving break. :P <strong>


	5. the girls tossing rocks at your window

**First off, I would like to say thank you, to every single person reading this story. I don't think you guys know how much it means to me that you guys are reading it, let alone marking it as a favorite or marking me as one of your favorite authors. Really, thank you. Second, I forgot to credit the last chapter. That is loosely based off of the movie "Fever Pitch" starring Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore. Go watch it! **

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><p><em>He placed her back down on the ground under the shower head. And she sighed when the water hit her skin. She didn't care that she was still in her underwear, and he didn't seem to care that he was getting his clothes soaking wet from helping her. "Thank you, Finn." She said as she reached for a shampoo bottle. He grabbed it from her.<em>

"_I've got it," he said, as he poured shampoo into his hand. "And you're welcome Rachel. Let's get you washed up, and then I'll help you get to bed." He lathered her head in shampoo, and massaged it into her head. It felt amazing, gentle and soft, like she was the most delicate thing on the planet. When he finished, he helped her rinse it out, and repeated the process again, when she told him that she needed conditioner as well, otherwise she would get split ends. Even when she was sick, Rachel still needed to take proper care of her hair. When he was done rinsing out the conditioner, he climbed out of the tub to let her wash herself, searching for a towel. _

The beams of light through the blinds woke Rachel the next morning. The dream she had had felt so real to her, so vivid that she almost expected him to be next to her. She looked around only to realize that she was in her own bed, in her pajamas and bunny slippers, with no pants on alone. What happened last night, she thought to herself. She could have sworn that she was supposed to go out with Finn, and that he was supposed to pick her up. She glanced toward her clock, 7:23, someone should be home. As she stood and got out of bed, she tripped over her laundry basket that was now placed next to her bed. She grabbed onto her nightstand to support her weight and nearly knocked over a glass of water that was placed there. Then she remembered. She had gotten sick, all over the place. Quinn or Kurt must have gotten home late last night and taken care of her, and gotten her changed she rationalized, and felt a twinge of guilt in her stomach. She had told Finn to go home, she had completely blown him off.

She walked through the apartment towards Quinn's room, and knocked on her door. "Quinn?" she said. "Are you home?" No answer. So, she went to Kurt's room and tried the same thing. "Kurt?" After getting no response, she headed towards the bathroom and heard the shower running. She opened the door, "Quinn, I'm going to guess it's you in here, because it's past 7:00 and Kurt is always at work..." She said as she reached to pull back the shower curtain, when she pulled it back, she let out a surprised scream and slid the curtain back into place.

It hadn't been a dream, he was really there all night taking care of her. She felt an overwhelming spectrum of feelings flow through her. He had stayed and took care of her all night. He had washed her hair for her, he had- SEEN HER NAKED! "FINN HUDSON! YOU SAW ME NAKED!" she screamed as she pulled back the curtain. A surprised look was plastered on his face as he tried to cover himself up with his hands. "I cannot believe you! You changed me! You put on my underwear! You…" she stopped to rationalize her thoughts and took a deep breath. "I appreciate everything that you did for me," she said to a very wet, very confused, very naked Finn. She couldn't help but to look at Finn's naked form as she spoke her next words. "And I very much appreciate the fact that you stayed all night to make sure I didn't need anything, even when my friends didn't come home. So I am going to cook you breakfast," she said, trying to make her way out of the now steamy bathroom. "Because you're naked and standing there, and I can't help but to stare at you." She turned to walk away, but a big hand grabbed her wrist.

"Then don't stop looking," Finn's deep voice said.

"Finn," Rachel said, but before she could say anymore, he grabbed her and pulled her into the shower with him.

She pushed him up against the back wall, kissing him everywhere that her mouth could reach and quickly became annoyed due to their height difference. He sensed her displeasure and picked her up, as she wrapped her legs around his waist, knocking over shampoo bottles, and soap in the process. He ghosted his fingers on her back, and pulled her, now soaked, shirt off of her body. She moaned as he brought his hand to gently cup her breasts and tweak her nipple, as she kissed the cape of his neck. He pushed her against the opposite wall, taking her breasts in his mouth, electing a low moan from Rachel's throat. She licked his jaw from his chin, along his jaw line to his earlobe, and nibbled on it gently, causing him to kiss her feverishly on her lips, causing her to realize just how wet she really was.

He grasped her ass as she placed kissed her in the valley between her breasts and continued to play with her nipples. She felt him growing harder by the second, and as he did, so did his kisses. He fingered the waistband of her panties, and she wanted him to do more. "Touch me," she growled.

And he did. He slid his hands in, and separated her folds, feeling the wetness that was pooling. "God Rach, you're so wet." He said, as he kissed her neck. He slowly moved his fingers into her, and she moaned at the contact. She couldn't believe that she was doing this. She had met this guy all of a day ago, and now here she was, being fingered in the shower of her apartment that she shared with two other people. She was soon distracted from her thoughts, as Finn pushed another finger into her, causing her to shudder involuntarily. She gently kissed and bit his shoulder as his fingers worked his magic with her clit, slowly causing stars to appear before her eyes. He held her tighter to him so she could feel his erection on her thigh, and that was enough to send her over the edge, causing her to bite Finn's shoulder, harder then she meant to.

Surprised by the bite, Finn adjusted himself away from her mouth, catching his foot on one of the fallen bottles, causing them to tumble out of the bathtub and land on the floor with a loud thud.

Rachel shot up from her bed, sweating. She looked around her to see her bedroom, hamper next to her, and water on the nightstand. _What WAS that?_ She thought to herself. She was confused as to what her head was telling her to do, but her body parts had other ideas. So what if she had a sex dream about Finn, and who cares if it was a really good sex dream? She forced herself to get out of bed, to see if Finn was actually in her apartment. She found who she was looking for laying on her loveseat, his limbs all over the place. She chuckled at the fact that he was too tall for where he was laying. She leaned over and gently nudged his shoulder. "Finn," she whispered. "Wake up. You look really uncomfortable, go sleep in my bed for a while." He stirred at her voice, and opened his eyes.

A small smile appeared on his face. "Hey," he said; his voice thick with sleep. "It's good to see you up and about. I was really worried about you last night." She smiled widely at him, remembering that part of her dream, had actually happened, although, she secretly wished it all did.

"Yes, I am. I'm still feeling a little queasy, but it's nothing I can't live with." She looked at him questionably as he rose from the couch. "Finn, you don't have to go yet. Quinn and Kurt are both at work, and…" She forgot she didn't tell him about her job yet. "I have the week off while they're setting up equipment and such." She tried her best to not sound desperate.

"I'm not going anywhere Rach," He said, and she couldn't help but to think of him moaning her name as he did in her dream. "I'm going to make you breakfast, go lay back down, I'll bring it to you. I know what it's like to feel like that, I had it when I was a kid." He was walking toward her kitchen now, and she was following on his heels. "Plus, we never got to go out tonight, so we can have breakfast in bed to make up for it." He realized his mis-wording at the amused expression on her face. "I mean, I'll sit on the chair or something, so it's not weird." The blush on his cheeks looked adorable.

"No, it's perfectly fine that you sit on the bed with me, it's just I'm a vegan, so I'll make us breakfast. Plus, I was going to pay last night, so it's only fit that I make you breakfast in bed. Especially after all you did for me last night."

"Rachel, I promise you it wasn't a big deal at all. But, I hope you don't mind that I used your washer and dryer. While I was helping you get showered and stuff, my clothes got soaked," he ran his fingers through his hair. "And I figured that I wouldn't even dare wear anything that Kurt has, so I just walked around in my boxers." He said walking around to sit on one of the stools surrounding the island in the kitchen. She couldn't help but to imagine him in his boxers. Damn it, Rachel, get a grip on yourself, she thought as she went to her cabinets to collect the necessary ingredients for breakfast.

"It's perfectly fine Finn, I could never get mad at you for something like that." She said, as he was toying with a bowl of potpourri on the counter. "I really owe you. Quinn and Kurt weren't going to be home tonight. They thought that after our date," she noticed him look up from the bowl when she said it. "We would both end up here, for, you know…" she pointed in the direction of her bedroom and blushed.

"I would never make you do something you wouldn't want to do Rachel. I even closed my eyes last night when I was trying to get you dressed. I was gonna leave you naked, but I didn't want you to get cold. So I just kinda," he blushed. "slid your clothes on you. I was trying my hardest not to disturb you. And I'm sorry that I didn't put pants on you, I really didn't want to wake you up." She dropped the mixing bowl in her hands as she remembered she still wasn't wearing any pants. She ran towards her bedroom and heard Finn call after her, a smirk in his voice. She slid on her favorite pair of yoga pants, and slipped her bunny slippers back on her feet, and returned to the kitchen where Finn sat with the smirk she knew she heard.

"I'm sorry about that, I forgot that I never," She cleared her throat. "Redressed myself properly."

"That's okay Rach, I was really enjoying the view." He winked.

"Ha-ha, very funny Finn." She said, her voice loaded with sarcasm. A wicked idea crossed her mind, and a matching wicked smile crossed her face.

He could tell that something was up as he took in her face. "Rach? He asked.

She reached and grabbed a handful of flour from the bag in front of her and threw it at him. His faced turned from shocked, to mischievous in a matter of seconds, as he grabbed a handful and threw it back at her. She squealed in fear as he took another, bigger handful, stood up, and started to come closer to her. He dumped the handful on her head, and grabbed her by the waist, lifting her off the ground. "Now what was that for?" he laughed, spinning her around, bumping her into the pan that was on the counter, causing it to fall to the floor with a loud crash, onto Finn's foot. "FUCK, that hurt!" he gasped, as Rachel keeled over in laughter, taking advantage of his pain and managing to get another handful of flour ready for attack.

He noticed she grabbed another handful, and ducked behind the counter, grabbing a carton of eggs as he went. As she turned to look for him, he started his attack, launching eggs over the counter at her, landing on her shoulder, yolk dripping everywhere. As Finn ducked down again, Rachel turned to the sink and grabbed the hose extension from it, quietly turning on the water so he wouldn't hear. When his face popped back up, Rachel used her new secret weapon, and shot him right in the face. "That's it!" she heard from behind the counter, and anticipated Finn's next egg, ducking behind the counter, but was suddenly tackled to the floor by a sopping wet, flour covered Finn. Laughter filled the room, as Rachel picked up stray flour from the floor and throwing it up into his face. T

Their laughter died down, as they looked into each others eyes. Rachel felt herself get lost in his eyes again. She couldn't help it, there was just something about him that made her feel special, something that made her feel safe. The words came out before she could stop them. "You know, you can kiss me if you want to." To her relief, he answered without any hesitation.

"I want to." He said, as he leaned down, and placed his lips to hers. She could feel the sparks as their lips moved together, deepening the kiss. She was so involved in the kiss, she didn't fell him reach and collect flour from the floor, and slowly sprinkle it on her forehead as he pulled away. She giggled as she pushed him off of her, grabbing more flour and throwing it in his face, not realizing he was trying to say something, and all the flour she just threw ending up in his mouth. He choked on the flour for a second, as Rachel stood up and got the hose from the sink again.

"Here you go," she said sweetly, making it look like she was going to pour him a glass of water, and turning the nozzle on him as he approached. Finn grabbed her by the waist, pulling her into a deep kiss. She was so distracted by his actions that she let go of the hose, and it started spraying everywhere. And they were both so distracted by what they were doing, that they didn't hear the front door close.

A very shrill, high pitched voice interrupted their activities. "Rachel, what on EARTH happened in here?" A very irritated looking Kurt exclaimed as he took in the sight in front of him. "What are you two doing?"

"They're baking." Quinn's voice said from behind Kurt's frame, which was now shaking from anger. Meanwhile, Quinn had a very amused and proud look on her face. "Calm down Kurt, let them have their fun."

"I will not Quinn! They made a mess of MY kitchen!" he squealed, as Quinn grabbed him by the arm and pulling him away, mouthing them an 'I'm sorry.' "Quinn! Do not pull my sweater! It is from the new Marc Jacobs collection and I will have your neck if you ruin it!" Rachel rolled her eyes at Kurt's squeals of protest and turned to face Finn. Rachel grabbed his hand; he had looked completely confused at the whirlwind that just happened, the whirlwind that only Kurt Hummel could create.

"Ignore him, he's a drama queen." She chuckled. He smiled and took her face in his hands, kissing her gingerly. Rachel sighed with content. "Well," She said, observing the mess that they had made. Not only was there flour and egg splattered everywhere, it seemed like everything in the kitchen now had water on it. "Let's get to cleaning, and then I will make you a proper breakfast." She smiled and walked to the closet to get cleaning supplies.

When they were finished cleaning up their mess, which was actually a lot larger then she had thought, in the midst of everything that happened, they had broken two bowls, one of which contained the potpourri Finn was playing with beforehand, scattering not only glass, but the potpourri itself all over, she began to cook breakfast for them.

"_And I can see you years from now in a bar, talking over a football game_

_With that same big loud opinion but nobody's listening_

_Washed up and ranting about the same old bitter things_

_Drunk and grumbling on about how I can't sing"_

Rachel sang as she mixed the ingredients for pancakes. Finn watched her dance around with a smile on his face.

"_But all you are is mean_

_All you are is mean and a liar and pathetic and alone in life_

_And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean_

She was too busy dancing around and cooking, she didn't see Kurt and Quinn joining Finn, watching her perform.

_But someday I'll be living in a big old city_

_And all you're ever gonna be is mean, yeah_

_Someday, I'll be big enough so you can't hit me_

_And all you're ever gonna be is mean_

_Why you gotta be so mean?"_

She remembered she wasn't alone anymore when she heard Finn start clapping. She blushed instantly. He had never hear her sing before, and by the look on his face, he seemed impressed, which made her blush more then she already had been. "Rachel, you do realize that is the first time you've sang in weeks right?" Kurt asked.

"What? Why?" Finn asked, disbelief plastered on his face.

"Because I haven't sang since my director fired me." She said, on the verge of tears. "They fired me about a month ago, and I haven't brought myself to sing. Not even in the shower." She said, a tear rolling down her cheek. She turned away from Finn so he wouldn't see.

"Hey, hey," he said, coming up to her and grabbing her hands. "It's okay Rachel. You are amazing at singing. Really, my mom made me go see Barbara Streisand with her once, and you are like a shit load better then her." He said, and Rachel heard Kurt gasp behind her.

"No one, not even Rachel Berry is better then Barbara Finn." Kurt said, obviously appalled by the words that had came out of Finn's mouth.

"Well, I think that she is." He said, and he leaned down to kiss the top of her head. She fell into his chest at his gesture and cuddled into a hug.

"Thank you, Finn." Rachel smiled. She couldn't believe any of this was happening. Only two days ago she was miserable, jobless, boyfriendless and refused to sing. And now, because of Finn Hudson, a perfect stranger, she was now only jobless.

"You're welcome Rach." He said, pulling her away to kiss her on the lips.

"So, did you guys do it?" She heard Quinn ask, but she was too distracted by the lips of the wonderful stranger who was helping her straighten out her life.

* * *

><p><strong>o, that's this chapter, sorry for the smut temptation. ;) I just couldn't pass that up.<br>The lyrics for this chapter is from Taylor's song "Hey Stephen" and the song that Rachel sings is "Mean" also by Taylor Swift. (Yes, there is indeed a pattern!)  
><strong>**As always, thank you to the wonderful Finchelislove for helping me with my little questions. :)3  
>I will be writing again soon so please bear with me. :)<br>Until next time... **


	6. in a storm in my best dress

**I'm so super sorry that this has taken so long to update! I have been super busy since Thanksgiving break ended, so I haven't really had time to write because of school work and such. This is a longer chapter for you guys to make up for it! :) If it sounds terrible, I apologize, I am posting it online before I got to bed. And I actually just finished it. I was in NYC today and I got some inspiration to write. So here is chapter six.**

* * *

><p>Finn and Rachel held hands as they entered the tattoo shop. "Finn, I don't know if I can do this. I'm going to have to hide it all the time, and it's gonna hurt really bad!" she pouted.<p>

"Come on Rach, you said it yourself that you've wanted a tattoo all your life, so here we are!" He said, pulling her in for a quick kiss. They had been dating for a little over two weeks now, and Rachel was happier then she had ever been.

"Finn, I can't do this!" she whimpered against his lips.

"Come on silly goose, you know you can, you're Rachel Barbara Berry, not only can you do anything, but you can be anyone you want to. And besides, you have always wanted to be a mermaid, and if you can't be that, why not represent it in some way." He said pushing a piece of stray hair behind her ear. "And I'll get one with you. I'm not gonna get anything girly, and we don't have to get matching ones," he quickly added as she looked at him with a shocked look on her face. She knew getting matching tattoos was stupid. What if they broke up, and she had a constant and permanent reminder of him somewhere on her body. But, although it sounded stupid, she couldn't help but like the idea of having a matching tattoo with Finn. "We could like get them in the same place or something. I don't know." He said rubbing the back of his neck, as she beamed at him.

The past two weeks had been perfect, much like all the time she spent with him. After their impromptu food fight and kiss, they had spent almost every second together when Finn wasn't working. Their fist real date had been just like she hoped it would have been like, if they actually made it to the date they were supposed to go on.

"_So, are you excited?" Kurt asked, as he say with his legs crossed on Rachel's bed, waiting to help her pick out outfits for the night a head. Rachel just smiled at him rolling her eyes as she turned and faced her closet. "You know you are. Finn is gorgeous, and he's obviously crazy about you, otherwise he wouldn't have taken care of you while you were busy being Linda Blair all over our apartment." He chuckled._

"_HEY! It's not my fault that I got food poisoning. And he said that he knows how it feels to be sick like that, he wasn't just gonna leave me alone, Kurt." She said, while absentmindedly looking through the clothes hanging in front of her. Usually if she ever went on a date, she would just wear jeans and a nice shirt, but Finn was different, she felt like she wanted to impress him. "Can you help me instead of just sitting there? Some gay you are." She said as she adjusted the belt on her robe._

"_You know damn well that I am the best gay that you have ever met Rachel Berry. And what did you want to wear?" he asked, pushing Rachel aside to look through her clothes. "What about this?" He held up a black and white polka dot dress. She shook her head._

"_I don't know if we're going anywhere fancy, and if we are, that's not fancy enough. I don't know why I'm so nervous Kurt, it's not like I haven't seen him before."  
>"Yes, you've seen him before, but you have never dated him before. You're over thinking this Rachel, I can see it in your eyes. Just relax."<em>

"_Come on loser, just pick out some clothes, your hotness is going to be here any minute" Quinn interrupted with a smirk. "He is going to drool over you either way, so just put something on." Her smirk turned into an evil grin. "Or, don't wear anything, just go naked, then you guys can have some real fun." She winked._

"_Quinn!" Kurt and Rachel said in unison._

"_Well fine then Ms. Prude. Just wear this," she walked over to Rachel's closet and pulled out a baby blue dress. "You always look amazing in this, so just wear it, and put this over it." She went over to Rachel's dresser and pulled out a cream colored wrap. "He won't know what him." She said handing her the clothes. "Now, put this on and get yourself ready, he's gonna be here any minute." She walked out of Rachel's room and pulled out her phone. Rachel had noticed that Quinn had been spending more and more time with that guy she had met at the bar with the ridiculous name, but she had never gotten a chance to ask about it._

"_Do you have any idea what's going on with…" but Kurt interrupted without even letting her finish._

"_You don't even wanna ask. I have heard things about him that even a guy who likes guys doesn't want to know about." Rachel laughed, and decided it was best to just let it slide for a while. If it were serious, Quinn would tell her, that's how it had always worked with them._

"_Help me with my hair?" She looked at Kurt who excitedly sat her on her bed and began to play with her hair trying to figure out what to do._

"_So," Rachel said enjoying the feeling of her hair being played with. "How are things with you and Blaine? I never got to ask you, I was kinda busy."_

"_Yeah, destroying my kitchen." Kurt snorted. "But I forgive you and the oaf, he got you to sing again, and that makes me happier then anything." He said, his hands still trying to figure out just how he wanted to make her look for this evening. "But Quinn was right, I really am in love with him, I just didn't want to admit it."_

_Rachel turned her head to smile at him. She knew how much Kurt and Blaine had meant to each other, and that Kurt was just scared about what people were thinking. "See, Kurt! I told you!"_

"_I know, but I'm still worried, I mean, I'm used to judgment from people, and so is Blaine, I just don't want us being together to ruin who I am, or who he is." _

"_Kurt," she said, standing to face her best friend. "You are absolutely crazy!" She grabbed his hands in hers. "Don't you worry tour pretty little mind about this. People throw stones at things that shine." She smiled her thousand watt smile at him, and she smiled back._

"_You're right Rachel." He said sitting her back down as he bobby pinned some of her hair up. "I've just never been a boyfriend before, so I don't know exactly what I should do…" She felt him pull the rest of her hair into an up-do and pin it into place._

"_Kurt, if you love him like you say you do, it is going to be as easy as breathing to be with him." She said as he sprayed hairspray all over her head. _

_He slid his arms around her neck and hugged her tight. "You're my best friend you know that?" She smiled at his words._

"_You're mine too, Kurt." She said _

"_Now look at your hair, and tell me what you think." _

"_I love it," she smiled. "Now, let me get dressed and get my makeup on and I'll be ready to go."_

Finn led Rachel to the different designs for tattoos they had. There were hundreds, and Rachel didn't even know where to start looking. Finn stood watching Rachel as she looked through a book of designs, and pointed at a mermaid tattoo that he had seen. "How about that one Rach?" he asked smiling.

"No, I don't think I want that one, let's see what else." She said flipping the page. As much as she wanted to be a mermaid, she didn't think she wanted and actual mermaid tattooed on her body. "What if I don't actually get a mermaid? What if I get something else..?" she stood and thought about what else she could get that could remind her of a mermaid.

"What about words?" Finn asked.

"Like what?" She smiled. "I can't get the word mermaid tattooed on me, that's goofy!" she lightly slapped his arm.

"No, no, Rach, what about 'Now's your moment', like from "The Little Mermaid?" She smiled. She was absolutely amazed that he had remembered.

_ The doorbell rang as Rachel was finishing up the rest of her makeup. "Just a second!" she called. _

_ "I got it Rachel!" Kurt called. She heard the door open._

_ "Hey man," Finn's deep voice said. "How are you?" She put the finishing touches of her lipstick on, and made her way out into the living room where her beautiful date was standing looking, well, very beautiful._

_ "Wow, uh, hey, Rach," he said nervously, completely blowing off whatever Kurt had just said to him. "You look amazing." He handed her a bouquet of flowers he had hiding behind her back. _

_ "Finn, these are beautiful! How did you know that lilies are my favorite?" She smiled._

_ "Lucky guess!" He said with a grin. She loved it when he smiled so hard he got dimples in his cheeks. "Are you ready to get going?" he said as he reached out his arm for her to take._

_ She grabbed it and nodded. "After you Mr. Hudson." She handed Kurt the flowers and he nodded and brought them to the kitchen. He led her out of the apartment._

_ "You really look amazing Rach," he said as they reached the elevator. Rachel pulled him inside the empty elevators as the doors opened and kissed him. Not just like the kisses that they had done, different kisses, ones with passion. As she pulled away, a smirk appeared on her lips._

_ "That was for the flowers, and for thinking that I look amazing." He smiled and kissed her lips again, this time gently and sweetly. _

_ "You never have to thank me Rachel, I will always tell you how amazing you look." She couldn't believe how lucky she was that Finn was in her life. He was the kindest and sweetest person that she had ever known, and she had only known him for three days, and she could already feel herself falling for him at an alarming rate. She was too busy smiling to herself that she didn't hear the elevator doors ping open._

_ "Okay, so I found this really great sushi place, and what's even better? It has karaoke!" CRAP! Rachel thought to herself as Finn continued to speak to her. "I know, I know, it seems strange that there is a place like that, but I know you're a vegan, and I figured maybe you would be able to find something to eat there. I know that some vegetarians still eat fish, and I'm not entirely sure what a vegan is exactly," he blushed. "But maybe you can find something. And there's singing there so I figured maybe you would have some fun doing that!" His smile was beaming at her. _

_ "That sounds like the perfect place Finn." She smiled at him as he led her out of the building and down the street towards the restaurant that she knew all too well. But, she didn't have the heart to tell him that not only had she been there before, (three times a week usually), but this particular restaurant was the one that gave her the food poisoning that she had the night before. She just hoped that the usual hostess was there, that would give it all away._

_ Rachel had no luck whatsoever that night. Not only was the normal hostess there, who greeted her with a "It's great to see you Rachel! Didn't I just see you here on Tuesday?" but to make matters even worse for her, her normal waitress, Suzy, showed her to her usual table next to the fish tank. And before Rachel could say anything in edgewise, Suzy had turned to Finn and said with her friendly smile "Rachel and her friends always sit next to the tank, it's Rachel's favorite because of the tanks." And walked away, leaving both Finn and Rachel with embarrassed blushes on their faces. _

_ "So, I'm guessing you've been here before, huh?" Finn asked, rubbing the back of his neck. He must be nervous, Rachel noticed._

_ "Kinda," She admitted. "I knew where we were going before we even left my building." His face fell. "No, Finn, I just didn't want to disappoint you that I've been here before, you seemed so excited that you found this place all on your own, just for me, I didn't want to ruin that for you." He managed a smile on his adorable face._

_ "It's okay Rach, we could have just gone somewhere else if you really didn't feel like coming here. I mean you were just here on…Tuesday… Rachel, is this the place that gave you the food poisoning the other night?" Finn asked, his voice full of concern._

_ "I'm assuming so," Rachel sat up in her chair and placed her napkin over her lap. "But Finn, the likelihood of me getting food poisoning twice in one week from a restaurant I have never previously gotten sick from is highly unlikely."_

_ "Alright, but if you feel sick at all walking home or something, you let me know, I have no problem staying at your place and taking care of you again." _

_ "Finn, you are one of the most generous and caring people I have ever met." Rachel smiled._

_ "Look Finn, there are some people going on stage to sing." Rachel pointed out as a group of women, presumably drunk women, took the stage. The intro to "It's Raining Men" came blasting through the speakers, making both Finn and Rachel giggle and roll their eyes._

_ "What can I get you guys?" Suzy asked, coming to the table with two glasses of water. "And you wanted water, right Rachel? I just assumed it would be okay because that's what you, Quinn, and Kurt always get." Suzy smiled politely at Finn, and he nodded._

_ "I'll have the Saikyoyaki Entrée, with a side of Miso soup." Fins said, folding his menu and handing it to the waitress. Suzy turned to face Rachel._

_ "And you'll have your usual, I presume?" she asked. Rachel nodded her head and handed her back the menu that she had. Suzy wrote down the orders and walked away, and Finn looked at Rachel._

_ "You even have a usual here? Man I feel stupid." He sighed._

_ "Finn, don't you dare feel stupid, you simply had no idea that I would already know about a place like this. It was very thoughtful of you, and I don't really even care that I've been here before, it's my first time being here with you, so it feels like new." She couldn't help but smile at the smile that Finn had on his face. He seemed a lot calmer and at ease with her words as he changed the subject._

_ When the song was finished, the announcer brought up the next singer, this time, a man, stepped into the spotlight. "I'm Sam Evans, and I'm going to be singing some classic rock for you tonight!" With that, the intro notes to "Don't Stop Believing" played and everyone in the restaurant, with the exception of Rachel and Finn, turned their attention to the stage._

_ "So, why are the tanks your favorite? Do you love fish or something?"_

_ "No," Rachel laughed nervously, earning a confused look from Finn. "Um, I actually, really love the ocean, and so I like looking at it."_

_ "And what else? C'mon Rach, I can tell by the look in your eyes that you're trying to figure out if you should tell me something. What is it you want to say?"_

_ "I'm afraid you'll judge me." Rachel admitted._

_ "Rachel," he said grabbing her hand, rubbing circles on her knuckle with his thumb. "I would never judge you for anything you say."_

_ "Okay, well, this might sound, incredibly dumb, but since I was a little girl, I have always wanted to be a mermaid." She waited for the snicker of laughter, but when she heard none she looked to see a listening Finn, patiently waiting for the rest of her story._

_ "When I was a little girl, the only thing that would stop me from throwing one of my little 'diva fits'," Rachel motioned air quotes with her fingers. "Was 'The Little Mermaid'. You know that movie right?" Finn nodded and she carried on. "I had always felt like Ariel, even when I was little. When I was six, my dads tried to keep me from going to an acting summer camp, saying it was too expensive, but I knew that they didn't want me going because they felt it was too dangerous. And, if you thought that Ariel's father was tough, you obviously haven't met Mister and Mister Berry." Rachel laughed at her own joke, while Finn looked like he was absorbing every bit of information that she was saying._

_ "As I got older, I realized that there was so much more out in the world then my dads had exposed me to. Now, don't get me wrong, my daddys gave me everything that a girl could ever want, but just like Ariel, I knew that there was something greater out in the world." Finn smiled. "Besides that, it seems that anytime that I'm upset, when I watch 'The Little Mermaid' it cheers me up, more than 'Funny Girl' though. Kurt and Quinn don't know that, they think that my whole mermaid thing is stupid."_

_ "So, if you feel like you belong 'out of the water'" Finn did the quotations as well, giving Rachel her favorite smile. "Why do you want to be a mermaid?" he asked. _

_ "No one has ever put the two together like you just did. They usually just think it's because I like the movie so much. I guess the reason why is because I've already seen what is out there for me here in New York, so why not flip how the story is supposed to be? What if a girl who is on land, got all of what she is supposed to out of her life in that place, and wanted to go and live under the sea and see what happens in her life then?" Finn said nothing as he stared at her. "I told you it was stupid." She hid her face in her hands, laughing at how embarrassed she was._

_ "No, actually, it makes perfect sense Rachel. Really, it does. You feel like if there's nothing great for you here, then why can't there be something where you least expect it." Finn reasoned. The song ended, and everyone stood up to applaud. Rachel just rolled her eyes and kept talking._

_ "I guess that's part of it too. I know it kind of like contradicts itself a bit, but I don't know. I've always felt so stupid for feeling like that."_

_ "It's not stupid Rachel, in fact, it's anything but stupid. And the reason that it's not stupid is because it is a dream of yours. And none of your dreams are stupid." She leaned over the table and gave him a kiss. "So, what's your favorite song from the movie?" he asked._

_ "Well, the food shouldn't be out for a little while longer, why don't I just show you?" She asked, as she rose from her seat to make her way over to the sign up sheet. _

"_There you see her__  
><em>_Sitting there across the way__  
><em>_She don't got a lot to say__  
><em>_But there's something about her__  
><em>_And you don't know why__  
><em>_But you're dying to try__  
><em>_You wanna kiss the girl__"_

_She stared at Finn while she sang. Her eyes never leaving his, as he stared back with the most unmistakable look of pride for her. She smiled as she kept singing.  
><em>

"_Yes, you want her__  
><em>_Look at her, you know you do__  
><em>_It's possible she wants you, too__  
><em>_There is one way to ask her__  
><em>_It don't take a word__  
><em>_Not a single word__  
><em>_Go on and kiss the girl__  
><em>_Sha-la-la-la-la-la__  
><em>_My, oh, my__  
><em>_Look at the boy too shy__  
><em>_He ain't gonna kiss the girl__  
><em>_Sha-la-la-la-la-la__  
><em>_Ain't that sad__  
><em>_Ain't it shame, too bad__  
><em>_You gonna miss the girl__"__  
><em>

_Rachel kept singing. She had sang this song hundreds, if not thousands of times before, and yet somehow, this time it felt different. As she sang, she couldn't help but to feel like she was singing to Finn instead of for him. She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted him to want her. She walked towards him as she was finishing the song. _

"_You've got to kiss the girl__  
><em>_Why don't you kiss the girl__  
><em>_You gotta kiss the girl__  
><em>_Go on and kiss the girl"_

_ Before she could even register what was happening, Finn grabbed her by the waist and kissed her full force on the mouth, with all the want and need as she as she was singing to him. Before the food had even come, Rachel Berry decided that this was the best date of her life._

"Finn, that is the most perfect idea for a tattoo!" She leaped into his arms, and hugged him tightly.

"I'm glad you like the idea, I've actually been thinking about it since you sang me that song the other night." He smiled at her.

"You're perfect." She smiled and walked toward the counter. Even though he was trying to be really quiet, he heard Finn say: "No, you are."

* * *

><p><strong>Credit Time!<br>"The Little Mermaid" and the song "Kiss The Girl" both belong to Disney.  
>Taylor Swift is once again thanked. Lyrics for this title are from "Fearless". And there is also a quote mixed in the chapter from the song "Ours".<br>As always, thank you to my FF Soulmate/Samchel crack lover Finchelislove; always go check her stuff out!  
>And especially thank you to all that has readreviewed/favorited/anything else!  
>I have an idea about what I want to do in the next few chapters, and I already know how I want this puppy to end, so it's just all going to be when I have the time to write it all down.<br>#Finchelforever **


	7. i believe it was a tuesday

**! School has taken up so much of my time lately that I haven't been able to write. So here is FINALLY chapter seven! :) **

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><p>"Kurt, I have to tell you something." Quinn started. Her hands were shaking as she looked at her best friend dancing around cleaning the apartment.<p>

"Yes, Quinn?" He said, holding the feather duster he had in his hand like a microphone as he mouthed along to the words of "Fifteen" by Taylor Swift.

"But if I tell you," Quinn started, standing up from the couch. "You have to pinky swear to me that you will not tell Rachel." She held out her pinky.

Kurt's eyes grew wide at the gesture. "You only make pinky promises when something is big. What did you do Quinn?"

"Whoa Kurt, why is it that whenever I make you pinky promise something you automatically think that I did something wrong?" He gave her a look as she continued. "Okay, well I did do something, but the first part of it isn't that bad."

"Quinn, what happened?" Kurt said, his voice full of concern.

"Well it's about Puck…" Quinn couldn't finish her sentence. Before she knew what was happening, Kurt shoved his fingers in his ears.

"La la la la la la la la la la" he screamed, fingers still in his ears. "I do not need to know anymore details about your sex life with your mohawked partner!" he started to walk away but Quinn grabbed his arm.

"No you bonehead," she said as he took his fingers out of his ears. "Puck is my boyfriend." She smiled.

"I already knew that," Kurt shrugged. "I'm smart Quinn, I know how to figure these things out."

"No, I didn't finish. Puck has been my boyfriend for months."

"But didn't you just meet him the night that Rachel met Finn?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"No. I didn't. Here's the bad part. I met Puck months ago at work. He was interning there, and since he was, he had automatic mailroom duty." She shrugged. "So one day, he came to my office and delivered me my mail, and asked me out. You've seen him, he's gorgeous, so obviously I said yes."

"I don't see where that could be a bad thing." Kurt said.

"Because I haven't finished yet Kurt-face." Both of them giggled at the nickname. "So anyways, we've been dating since before Rachel lost her job."

"But why didn't you tell me and Rachel about Puck from the beginning?" Kurt interrupted. She could tell he was slightly hurt, but she sighed and answered.

"Because Puck is the kind of guy that seems like a hump and dump," she explained. "I didn't want to tell you guys because then if he turned out to be that, I didn't want to have you guys tell me 'I told you so' like you love to do." She reasoned and Kurt nodded understanding what she meant. "Anyway, back to the point. When Rachel lost her job and we were stuck watching _Funny Girl_ those millions of times, Puck suggested that maybe you and I take her out dancing."

"That's why you were pushing it so hard that night." He said as he slowly began to put the mental puzzle together.

"Yes, but there's a different reason too. Here's the really bad part." Kurt made a face. "So, Puck and I made a plan that we would meet there and pretend to just meet and he would introduce Rachel friend…" Kurt gasped.

"Quinn… tell me that you did not tell Finn to go over and talk to Rachel! Are you telling me that everything that he has done with her is because you told him to?" he asked, starting to beat Quinn with the feather duster he was still holding.

"NO, NO, NO! Kurt you have to believe me. Finn was only supposed to be there to try and get her to dance with her. That was all that he was supposed to do. My guess is that when he saw her struggling with you, which by the way actually turned out to be a good thing you were completely wasted," she added. "He realized he had to help, on his own accord." She explained.

"Quinn, if he is just doing all of these things because you and a boy planned to get her out her slump, I don't know what Rachel is going to do." He said, disappointment and concern laced his voice.

"Finn stayed the night when Rachel was puking everywhere, I don't think that he would just do that because me and Puck told him to dance with her. That wouldn't make any sense."

"Let's hope you're right Quinn, this is the happiest that Rachel has ever been, at least that I've seen." He said. Quinn nodded.

"I know, it's the happiest I've seen her too. But you can't tell her. Puck tells me that Finn is really crazy about her. So I really don't think he would lie to his best friend about that. And I really don't think that Finn is the type of person to just use Rachel like that. Besides, it's not like Rachel is actually having sex with him, you know her. She is the biggest prude of them all." Quinn chuckled.

"You're right, it's going to take her at least another month before she even lets him touch her boobs." Kurt snorted and continued to clean the house.

* * *

><p>The light from the television woke Finn up. He groaned as he saw what time it was, confused as to why he was up so early. As he rolled over, he smiled as he saw Rachel lying next to him, lightly snoring, cuddled in his blankets. He reached and pulled her closer to him, kissing her head gently.<p>

She stirred at his kiss and slowly opened her eyes. As she saw him above her, she smiled. "Hey." She said.

"Good morning beautiful." He said, leaning down to kiss her on the mouth.

"Oop," she said, stopping him right before his lips met hers. "You have morning breath." She chuckled.

He backed his mouth away from hers nodding, but she seemed to change her mind when she grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him back "What the heck?" and kissed him deeply.

"So what are your plans for today?" he asked, yawning. He was defiantly confused about why he was awake this early.

"I thought that maybe we could all go out on a date. You know, me, you, Kurt, Blaine, Quinn, and her boy toy, what's his name, Chuck?"

"Puck." He corrected her.

"Right, Puck." She smiled at him, and yawned. "Don't yawn in front of me, it's making me want to sleep again."

"So then let's go back to sleep, it's still early, and we have all the time in the morning to discuss what we're doing later on." He kissed her face.

"No, it's time to wake up!" she said, pulling the covers off of herself. He pulled her back and covered her back up kissing her neck.

"Come on, let's stay in bed a little longer?" he persuaded, kissing her up and down her neck, causing her to sigh.

"Okay Finny," she said, cuddling back into him. "We can stay in bed a little longer." He pulled her tightly to him and sighed, content that he didn't have to be up so early. "Hey, how did you know Puck's name?" she asked.

"Uhh," he started. _Shit_. He wasn't supposed to know Puck, because Rachel didn't know that he knew Puck. And Rachel also didn't know that he had known Quinn beforehand, or that Quinn and Puck had been dating for months. "I heard Quinn telling Kurt about something the other night while you were getting ready to go out." He quickly responded.

"I hope you didn't hear what she told Kurt, apparently it even makes a gay guy blush." She smiled.

He smiled back at her, pulling her tighter to him then he ever had before, wanting to never let go. He didn't know how he deserved such a wonderful woman in his life, but he had her, and he never wanted to let her go.

"Rach, I have to tell you something…" he started. He knew he had to tell her. He knew that if he kept it from her, she would think it was because he didn't really want to be with her, and it was all part of a scheme. But that wasn't the case, he cared about Rachel more then himself. He never wanted to lose her.

"Yes, Finny?" she turned to face him, kissing him softly on the lips before she looked into his eyes. He lost his courage when he looked into her eyes. The eyes that had captivated him since the moment they met.

"It's just, I care about you a lot Rachel." She smiled and kissed him again. "You're the only thing I know like the back of my hand. I never want to lose you." He didn't think that her smile could get any bigger as she pulled his lips to hers and kissed him fiercely.

"I feel the same way Finn. I don't know what I would do without you. I know that it's only been a few weeks, but you're the best thing that's ever happened to me." He felt the pang of guilt in his stomach return. After everything that happened last night, she tells him he was the best thing that happened to her, and he was lying to her. _Great. _He kissed her, trying to get rid of the feeling, and her lips were the perfect distraction.

Two hours later, Finn's alarm clock woke him up. He slammed on the clock emitting a slur of explicative words and climbed out of the bed. He turned to see if he woke Rachel, but found and empty bed instead. "Rachel?" he called out, as the smell of pancakes invaded his nostrils. He smiled and walked out of his room to find Rachel over the stove cooking breakfast in the shirt he was wearing the night before.

He walked behind her and grabbed her by the waist. "Well this is the perfect sight to wake up to." He smiled and kissed her neck.

"Well, I figured since I didn't let you get any last night I would make you some breakfast." She chuckled. Finn smiled at his perfect girlfriend.

"I told you last night that I would never make you do anything that you don't feel comfortable with Rach, but if you not giving it up will get you to make me pancakes, I think I could handle no sex for a while." He winked as he sat on one of the stools around the countertop.

"_Rachel," Finn groaned between heated kisses. They made their way up the stairs of his building towards his apartment. He grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her deeper into the kiss running his tongue over her lips, and she gladly allowed entrance. _

"_Which one's yours?" she asked as Finn led them down a hallway. He pushed her against the wall, pulling her hips towards him as his lips made their way down her neck. _

"_This one," he said as he moved her against his door, kissing her lips as he dug through his pocket to get his key. When he found it, he unlocked the door, his lips still attached to Rachel's. As he opened the door, he pulled Rachel into his arms, pulling her up so her legs were wrapped around his waist. He slammed the door shut as Rachel's lips traveled up and down his neck, which he knew was going to have a bruise in the morning._

_He carried her into the bedroom, placing her on the bed. "Finn," she whined from the loss of contact as he stood up in front of her. He ripped off his shirt and climbed back on top of her, kissing her face, down to her neck. His fingers greedily pushed up her shirt, and she helped him take it off of her. He took in the sight of her shirtless. He had seen her like this before, but this time he didn't feel guilty about it. His eyes went right to the newly tattooed words right below her right breast. He admired that he was the reason that they were there, and the newly inked skin._

_The feel of his lips on her bare skin raised goose bumps on Rachel's skin. He smiled knowing that he caused that and brought his lips back to her neck. She mewled with delight as his lips traveled from the nape of her neck down the valley between her breasts, his hand kneading them as her hands clawed at his back. He felt him grow hard as she scratched him._

"_Oh Finn," she moaned as he pulled her breast from her bra and took it into his mouth. His tongue sucked lightly on her nipple, and he heard her gasp as he gently nipped at it once it pebbled under the heat of his mouth._

"_God Rach," he said as she unclasped her bra, freeing her other breast from its constraint. His lips instantly went back to their job, this time working on the other breast, as he ghosted his hands all over her torso. _

_She grabbed his face and pulled him from her chest to give him a deep passionate kiss. As he grew harder, he reached down to unbutton her skirt. As he did, he noticed a flash of fear cross her face._

"_Rach? Are you okay?" he breathed, his face inches from hers._

"_Uh, yeah, it's okay." She said, pulling him back into a kiss. He kissed back until what she said clicked in his brain._

"'_Uh, yeah' isn't an answer Rachel." He said pulling away from her embrace, sitting on the edge of the bed. "What's wrong?"_

"_Nothing," she said moving towards him. He stood up and looked at her, making sure she looked him in the eye._

"_That's a lie Rachel. I know that you're lying." He kneeled in front of her, placing his hand on her cheek. "What's wrong?" _

"_It's just," she started. When he noticed tears starting to form in her eyes, he sat next to her on the bed, pulling her into his arms._

"_Shh, Rach, it's okay, don't cry." _

"_It's just," she said, wiping her tears away. "The last time that I did this," she motioned to the bed. Her sobs stopped her from speaking, and he pulled her closer to him. _

"_What happened Rach?" he asked, voice full of concern._

"_I was in love," she said between sobs. "Or at least I thought I was." She looked at him with tear filled eyes. "It was in high school, I was in love with him, and he said he loved me too." He felt jealousy boil in his stomach, but the jealously quickly turned to anger as she continued to speak. "And then he said that if I really love him, I would have sex with him. So I did." She admitted. Silent tears still running down her cheeks, and he wiped them away as they fell. "The next day at school, he told me he didn't love me, he just wanted to have sex with me, and he walked away." When she looked at him, guilt surfaced. He was lying to her himself. He put that thought aside as she continued. "I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't do it again until I knew that the guy wasn't going to hurt me." She said. "And I feel guilty saying that to you, because I know you won't hurt me." _

_**FUCK! **His mind screamed at him. She felt guilty? Here he was, lying to her, and she felt guilty about saying she didn't want to have sex with him? _

"_But Finn, I want to have sex with you. And we will, I just have to get over my insecurity first." She gave him a reassuring smile. "I promise."_

"_Baby," Finn sighed. "I will never make you do anything that you don't feel comfortable with." He hugged her tightly as he wiped away the last of her tears._

"_Thank you Finn." She said, hugging him back._

"_Let's go to bed, shall we?" he asked, standing up and walking to his side of the bed. As he climbed in, he felt Rachel scoot next to him, grabbing his arm and wrapping it around her waist. He kissed the back of her head as they lay in silence._

"_Goodnight Finny." She said, as she was drifting off to sleep._

"_Goodnight Rachel." He said, as he closed his eyes._

Rachel placing pancakes in front of him snapped him from his memory. They looked delicious. "These look delicious babe!" he said as he greedily shoveled a forkful into his mouth. She giggled.

"Slowdown caveman, there's plenty to go around. And by the way, I called Kurt and Quinn to let them know where I was. They said they would love to go out tonight." He smiled as she walked around his kitchen, scooping another forkful into his mouth.

"Mmkay baby." He said between chews.

"Where do you wanna go Mr. Neanderthal?" she smiled.

"I don't know what that is." He said as he swallowed, grabbing the glass of milk that Rachel has placed in front of him. "But we can go wherever they wanna go." He said after gulping down the glass.

"It's just another word for caveman silly." She said, refilling his glass. She grabbed a different plate, Finn assumed of vegan pancakes, and sat next to him. "And I guess we'll just tell them to pick the place." She shrugged.

Finn took another forkful of pancake into his mouth, syrup started to run down his chin. Unable to fins a napkin, Finn left the syrup on his face, causing Rachel to erupt into giggles. "Oh, you think this is funny?" he asked, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Yes, yes I do." She giggled.

"Well how funny is this?" He asked grabbing Rachel's and rubbing his, covered in the sticky substance, all over hers while tickling her.

"FINN!" Rachel laughed, trying to run away from him. He held on tighter and continued to tickle her.

"Nope, you laughed, now you're punished!" he said tickling her harder, as her laughter continued.

"FinnFinnFinnFinn!" she said as he finally ceased tickling her. "You are evil!" she said as she tapped his nose with her finger.

"I like Mr. Neanderthal better." He pouted. "Evil sounds, well evil." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Okay then, Mr. Neanderthal it is." She said, and she sealed her new nickname for him with a kiss.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there is Chapter Seven for you guys!<br>Taylor Swift's "Forever and Always" is responsible for the title of this chapter, and the lyrics in the chapter are from "Breathe".  
>Finchelislove is my beta-boo, go check her out, she has three new awesome stories out!<br>The triple date is going to be in the next chapter. I have some ideas, so hopefully I can figure some out. But, I would be ecstatic to hear some of my lovely reviewers idea for something to happen! Let me know! :)  
>And thank you guys for favorite-ing, reviewing, reading. It's what keeps me going through this story! <strong>


	8. drop everything now

**Okay guys, here is the next chapter. I would have written it sooner, I just had no idea what I should do for their little triple date. I know that it is very short on Klaine-ness, but I promise I will have a lot of it coming up. I am just setting up Finchel and Quick for their separate storylines. I tried a little something different with it. I really didn't know how to incorporate the things I wanted in the chapter another way, so I went with this method. I might use it again, for one of the final chapters of this stories, but we'll see if you guys like it or not! **

* * *

><p><em>Thursday, 2:53 PM; Finn's office.<em>

Finn spun around mindlessly on the chair in his office. He decided to give up trying to work because he was too busy thinking about Rachel, which he decided he did more then he actually worked. He jumped a little when his phone rang.

"Yo Puck, what's up?" he asked as he picked up the phone.

"Okay, Frankenteen, here's the deal. Q said that we all have a triple date or something with Rachel and the other ga- uh, guy" he corrected "tomorrow night."

"I'm aware, that means that we have to pretend to just meet at dinner." Finn nodded as his secretary, Santana, walked in with a cup full of coffee and placed it on his desk. She smiled and walked out as Puck tried to reason with him.

"Why? That's fucking stupid Finn, and you know it. I know that you feel super guilty about it."

"I know I do dude, it's just its been so long since I've been this happy with a girl, I do not want to ruin it, especially over something so stupid as this."

"Hudson, you are lying to her. She's going to find out eventually…" Finn interrupted him.

"No Puck, we are not telling her. Did Quinn think this way too? Or are you just trying to fuck me over?" He said while taking a sip of his coffee.

"She thinks you should keep it a secret too. I was just trying to get you to tell the truth because I don't want anyone to slip up tonight. Especially now that Kurt knows."

Finn spit his coffee out all over the papers on his desk. "KURT KNOWS?"

"Yeah, Quinn told him like last week or something, I don't know. I don't think he cares. He's just glad to be involved in a secret for once or something. At least that's what Q said."

"Dude, I swear if I lose Rachel because of this stupid secret, or if you slip up, I will kick you in the nuts SO hard…"

"Your threats don't work on me Hudson. But you have my word, I'll try my hardest not to slip up for your sake."

"You know we would have had this done like two weeks ago if you didn't end up getting sick." Finn argued. "But you had to go and eat that…"

"Don't remind me." Puck begged. "I don't even want to relive that in my memories.

"Alright I won't" Even Finn himself didn't want to think about what Puck had told him about when he was sick. "Quinn has a good effect on you, huh?" he asked trying to wipe up some of the coffee he spit all over.

"Hell yeah, she does. But don't let her know that, I think she likes the bad-ass-ness aspect of me." Finn could almost hear his wink through the phone.

"Alright, I'm gonna call Rach and see what we're doing tonight. Hey, Puck?"

"Yeah, Man?"

"Thanks. For, you know…"

"You're welcome. I just hope you know what you're doing." Puck warned.

"I do." Finn said as Puck hung up the phone. "At least, I think I do."

_Friday, 5:25 PM; Rachel, Quinn, and Kurt's apartment._

"I'm so excited! We're finally getting to go out!" Kurt squealed as he went through Quinn's closet, looking for something for Rachel to wear.

"Me too! Maybe this time Puck won't get sick before we were gonna go out like last time" All three shuddered at the memory of Puck explaining on speakerphone just exactly why he couldn't come. "I'm still really sorry about that, guys, who would have thought you could get a stomach virus from eating moldy bread...?" she asked sarcastically. They laughed. "Anyways, I love that we're going out, all six of us, though I really don't understand why Rachel has to use my clothes…"

"Because Quinn, all of Rachel's clothes scream animal print and mod. They do not scream 'Hey look at me, yeah you, you sexy tall man you, I want you. In my pants.'" Quinn started giggling and Rachel blushed.

"You do know I am sitting right here?" Rachel said, looking at the previous options Kurt had laid out for her on Quinn's bed.

"I know that silly, but you know it's true. I don't know how much longer the Jolly Green Giant is going to be able to wait for you to spread your legs." Quinn winked at her, turning to Kurt to talk about the dress Kurt had in his hands.

"Actually, we almost did it the other night." Rachel said, causing the other pair of chattering mouths in the room to stop.

"What did you say Ms. Rachel Berry?" Kurt said, dropping the dress he had on the chair and bouncing onto the bed across from her.

"Spill, right now." Quinn agreed, sitting next to Kurt. Both of them wide eyed in anticipation.

"I do not kiss and tell." Rachel said, moving to pick up the dress that Kurt had dropped. "And for your information, he told me that he wouldn't pressure me into anything that I wasn't ready for."

Kurt and Quinn looked at each other, and then back to Rachel. "Huh," Quinn said. "Maybe he really doesn't just want her for the sex. I owe you ten bucks Kurt." Quinn teased, causing Rachel's jaw to drop.

"Relax, Rachel, Quinn was making a funny." He said walking toward Rachel. He took the dress from her hands and held it up in front of her body. "Quinn? What about this one? I think you're right, it does look it would be perfect for her." Quinn nodded in agreement.

"You're going to look beautiful, Rachel." Quinn said, putting her arm around the brunette. "Now Kurt, help me pick out what to wear for Puck. I want something that screams out what you said before." Kurt laughed and Rachel rolled her eyes.

"I wonder what the boys will think about each other." Kurt giggled, once again going through Quinn's closet. "And just so you two ladies know, I am doing your hair and make up. We are going to the fanciest Italian restaurant that money can buy tonight. I will not have my two leading ladies in life looking like crap."

"I always assume you're doing my make-up Kurt. You told me once when I did it that I looked like a sad clown hooker and I am never allowed to do it myself again." Rachel frowned at her memory, while Kurt tried to stifle a laugh. "It's not funny, Kurt!"

"It actually is very funny, I forgot that I said that to you."

"Whatever." She said, taking her dress and walking to her room to get changed. When she was done, she checked her phone and saw that she had one new text message. Her heart leapt, like it always did, when she saw it was from Finn.

"**Hey baby, can't wait for tonight. :)**"

Rachel quickly answered and looked at herself in the mirror. She had to admit that Kurt was amazing at what would fit her and make her kook astounding. He had picked a red satin dress that showed off her every curve, and her legs look phenomenal. She matched the dress with her silver heels, making her legs look even better then they had before. She smiled knowing that this would be a fantastic night. Her boyfriend, her best friends, and their significant others all going out together, having a blast, she couldn't be happier.

_Friday, 7:58 PM; The hallway in front of Rachel, Quinn, and Kurt's apartment._

Finn paced back and forth in front of her door, getting up the courage to knock. He had done this a ton of times over the past month and a half of them dating, but never when he was about to lie to her. His nerves increased as he saw Puck walking towards their door.

"Hey," he nodded. "We're gonna be late, why are you not in there right now macking on your girl?" He asked.

"Because this is the first time that we're going out together, and everyone _but _Rachel knows that you and I already know each other." Finn pointed out.

"I told you to tell her." Puck said.

"I know, but why am I going to ruin her night and tell her. Not just her night actually, her whole entire month, by telling her that her boyfriend has been lying to her." Just then the door opened, and Finn felt his heart stop in his chest. He relieved a little when he saw Kurt standing in the doorway.

"You are so lucky that they are putting the finishing touches on their makeup and I am the one that opened this door Finn." He said, a look of anger crossing his features. "If you are going to lie to Rachel, the least you can do is lie well." He walked away from the door leaving it open. "Rachel, Quinn, your men are here!" He shouted, he then continued loudly. "Finn Hudson, this is Puck, Noah Puckerman, this is Finn."

Rachel walked out just as the men were shaking hands. As soon as he saw her, Finn dropped Puck's hand and stared at his girlfriend, mouth agape. She giggled and walked over and placed a kiss on his mouth.

"You are an absolute dream, Ms. Rachel Berry." He smiled, and she kissed him again. Her lips tasted like strawberries, something that it normally did when they went out to eat.

"Thank you, Finn. You look very handsome in your suit." She smiled back at him as she turned to Puck. "Hello, Noah, you look very handsome too."

"Thanks Rachel. Now where is my gorgeous gal?" He asked walking towards Quinn's room.

"How does he know where everything is?" Finn feigned curiosity. Finn had already known countless sex stories that occurred here, so of course he knew Puck knew his way around Rachel's apartment.

"He's been here a lot." Rachel said. "Mostly at night, if you know what I mean."

"Oh, okay." Finn said, pulling his girlfriend close to him. She put her lips to his cheek, causing his whole face to tingle.

"Where's Blaine?" Quinn asked, walking out of her room, Pucks arms attached to her hips.

"He said he's going to meet us at the restaurant to make sure we can get our table." Kurt said as he grabbed his coat.

"Are we all ready?" Finn asked, helping his girlfriend with her coat as her arm got stuck in the sleeve.

"Yes. Let's eat, I'm fucking starving." Puck said, making his way to the door, Quinn in tow.

"Alrighty, let's hit the city." Kurt said, opening the door for them as they all piled out of the apartment.

_Friday, 9:32 PM; Scalini Fedeli_

Tensions were already high as the group sat silently around the table. The evening had been very nice until Puck almost let it slip to Rachel that Finn knew him.

_"Rachel, I can't get over how pretty you look tonight Rachel. I have never seen a girl as pretty as you." Finn said to Rachel as they were walking down the street toward the restaurant._

_ "Oh shush, Finn." Rachel said, lightly batting at his shoulder with her hand. _

_ Puck made a gagging sound at the couple walking in front of him. "You know, Finn said that to every girl he was with when he was in high school." He whispered to Quinn. _

_ Finn shot a nervous look behind him towards Puck. Obviously hearing what he had said, Rachel stopped walking. "What did you say Noah?" Rachel asked._

_ "What do you mean, Rachel?" Quinn asked. Finn shot her a glance as Rachel answered her._

_ "Noah just said that Finn said that to every girl in high school." She said, her mouth set in a straight line._

_ Finn was about to answer her, but Quinn beat him to it. "He said, 'I bet Finn said that to every girl in high school."_

_ "Oh, okay. I must have misheard then." Rachel shrugged and walked ahead and took Finn's hand._

_ The gang shot a nervous look at each other, and then turned to give Finn a look of relief. He looked at Rachel, then back over her shoulder at Quinn. "Thank you" he mouthed. She only nodded at him, and then rested her head on Puck's shoulder._

Finn had hoped it would get better, but as he expected, it had only gotten worse. Over the course of the evening, Rachel and Puck realized that they didn't like each other very much. They had been arguing for a majority of the evening, and it didn't seem like they were going to stop.

When the food had arrived everybody had seemed to calm down. Finn breathed a sigh of relief as Blaine started a new conversation.

"Guys," he said, holding a piece of cheese between his fingers. "Smell this, doesn't this cheese smell funky?" He laughed. The cheese was passed around the table. After being sniffed by five noses, the cheese ended up on Rachel's plate.

"I am not going to smell that cheese." Rachel protested, attempting to hand it back to Blaine. Finn sighed when he saw Puck reach for the cheese instead.

"Come on Rachel, smell it." He instigated. Finn shot him a look of warning, which he realized was useless as he continued to shove the cheese towards her face.

"If I smell the cheese, do you promise to stop almost poking me in the face with it?" Rachel growled.

"Scouts honor." He smiled, holding up three fingers.

Rachel inhaled the cheese deeply. "You're right Blaine, it does smell funky." She passed the cheese back.

"That's because it's From-unda cheese" Puck joked making a wiping motion with his hand.

"SHUT IT PUCKERMAN!" Rachel shouted. Finn sat back in his chair, rubbing his face with his hands.

_Friday, 10:00 PM, Scalini Fedeli _

Finn prayed that his night would get better. It had to. And as desert was being served, he found that this time, he was going to be the one that was yelled at. Rachel and Puck had stopped arguing for the minute, only because Rachel was now attacking Finn with her words.

"How come you don't want to go see my fathers Finn? I want to go see your mother." She asked, poking him in the chest with her finger.

"I didn't say that I didn't want to see them, I just, I mean don't you think that it's too soon? I mean, are they really that important?" With that, the heads of everyone at the table turned to look at him.

"What is that supposed to mean Finn?" Rachel questioned.

"I- Uh, I didn't mean it that way, I just meant why does it matter if I meet them." Quinn shot him a look of shock, and Kurt shook his head at him.

"Why does it matter? Are you joking Finn?" She said, louder then her normal speaking voice, which was already loud as it is. "They are the men that raised me, and the ones that took care of me when I was sick. They supported my dreams of coming here Finn. Without those two men, I would not be here!" She stood up and threw her napkin on the table. "And if it 'doesn't matter' if you don't meet them, then it 'doesn't matter' to me if you don't ever call me again." She said as she stormed out of the restaurant.

Finn sat in his seat dumbstruck at what had just happened. His night had gone from terrible to worse, and not only that, he had gone from being in a perfect relationship with Rachel to a ruined one, in the matter of one night.

"Go after her right this instant, Finn" Kurt demanded and pointed his finger toward the door. "You cant believe a word she said, she's an actress, her living is to be as dramatic as possible. And though you were stupid with your words, I know for a fact that that girl is head over heels for you. So if you don't go after her right now, I will put this cheese," he held up the funky cheese "and put pieces of it all over your apartment, so many you won't be able to find it all, and your apartment will be disgusting…" Finn stood up before Kurt could finish his empty threat and headed to the door.

_Friday, 10:05 PM, Streets of New York._

As Rachel ran out of the restaurant, she immediately regretted her decision. It was pouring rain. She ran under the closest awning, waiting for it to lighten up a bit. After standing there for two minutes, she decided to just run for it. As she made her way to the next awning, she heard a voice calling her name.

"Rachel!" Finn called after her. She turned to see him standing just outside the building looking around to find her. She was beyond fumed, and he was the last person that she wanted to talk to. As she ran to the next awning, he caught sight of her. "Rachel, stop running!" he shouted over the sound of the rain.

"What, Finn?" she demanded. "What do you want? I'm pretty sure you said enough back there."

"I didn't mean it like that, you made your little diva stomp off, which was very good by the way," he saw her smile a little "before I had a chance to explain myself."

"What could you say to make any of this better?"

"It's just I have never been in a relationship where I have met the girls parents. And you have two dads so it's going to be even scarier." He said, raining coming down on both of them.

"You couldn't have just said that? And besides Finn, I don't care, you shouldn't have said that." She glared at him.

"I know Rach, and I'm sorry, what do you want me to say? That I'm the worst boyfriend in the world? That I would do anything to make up for it? I don't know what to do."

"There's nothing that you can do." She said as she started to walk away.

"I love you!" He said. He knew that she heard him by the way she stopped walking. He walked toward her, turning her to make her face him. "I love you Rachel, I think I have since I heard you sing in the kitchen that morning, and I have fallen deeper and deeper in love with you every day." Rachel stared at him, her eyes wide, rain dripping down her face.

As Rachel opened her mouth to say something, Finn stopped her with a kiss. She felt the sparks fly through her as she wrapped her finger through his hair. As they broke away, Rachel sighed. "I love you too, Finn." She whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.

"I'm captivated by you baby," he whispered back, kissing her gently. "Like a firework show." Rachel smiled a thousand watt smile and Finn lifted her in his arms and twirled her. "I love you, Rach." He said, pausing his twirls to look at her. She smiled and kissed him. Finn felt a thousand butterflies flitter in his stomach as they kissed. And for the first time in a long time, Finn knew that he was in love.

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><p><strong>It's that time again guys!<br>This chapter lyrics are all from "Sparks Fly" by Tay Tay. I heard it today, and then I thought of them kissing in the rain like this, so I had to do it.  
>In my head, as I wrote it, I kinda pictured Noah and Allie's kiss from the movie "The Notebook", which every woman in the world needs to see at least fifty times in their lifetime.<br>Extra special thank you to my lovely Beta; Finchelislove, for literally making this chapter possible because I could not think of date things, and she gave me some brilliant ideas. And go check out her brilliant ideas on her page, because I would not be writing without having read her stories!  
>I love every single one of you that make this a favorite and subscribe, and especially review. Those reviews keep me writing!<br>If I don't update before then, which is highly unlikely, but if it happens, have a VERY Happy Holidays. **


	9. small talk, work and the weather

**Alright, this is the time of the story where I apologize with all of my heart for making you guys wait so freaking long for an update. I have been so stuck with this chapter, that I basically gave up on it. I hate it, and I think it's the worst one yet, and that's why it's so short. The next one, I have a very good idea what I'm going to do, so I am going to update as soon as possible. :) I hope that you still love me, even though this one is terrible, I am going to have the most amazing chapters coming up soon, because they're the ones I've had in my head since the beginning of this story. So enjoy this.**

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><p>Rachel sat at the island in her kitchen mindlessly flipping through a magazine as she waited for her, now fifteen minute late, boyfriend to arrive. "He still isn't here yet?" Kurt said, walking into the room, Blaine following closely behind. "Doesn't he know that he's meeting your dads today?"<p>

"He knows," she sighed, still flipping through her magazine. "He called and said that he was running late at work, but I think he's just pacing around. He's nervous."

"There's nothing to be nervous about." Blaine stated, opening the fridge. "I've met them dozens of times." He said, grabbing water bottles for the three of them.

"Yes Blaine, you have met the Berry's, but, are you currently the one that she is, or in this case, isn't sleeping with their daughter?" Kurt asked, grabbing the bottle from him, and smirking at Rachel.

"Actually…" Rachel started. "You were right the first time." She said confidently, closing the magazine in front of her, waiting to gauge the reaction from Kurt. She was very much satisfied when his eyes almost bulged out of his head.

"WHAT?" He squealed. "You, Rachel Berry, did NOT have sex last night. I would have smelled it on you." He said, sniffing the air around Rachel. She rolled her eyes and looked at Blaine.

"Would you control him please?" She asked. He nodded and pulled Kurt's face away from her personal bubble, Kurt still in shock. "And I did. Finn said he loved me last night, and I love him too!" She beamed.

"That's fantastic, Rachel!" Blaine said, moving around the counter, and a frozen Kurt, to hug his friend. Noticing that Kurt made no noise, Blaine turned and looked at his boyfriend. "Isn't that great, Kurt? Your best friend's boyfriend told her he loved her." He said.

"Yes, Rachel, that is amazing." He said, moving to hug Rachel himself. "I'm very happy for you." He smiled.

The doorbell rang, and Rachel jumped to get it. She moved so quickly that she missed the look that Kurt and Blaine exchanged.

"Hi Finny!" Rachel blushed as she opened the door. "Are you ready to get going? Dad and Daddy don't like being kept waiting. I told them that I was running late instead of you, so they don't get a bad first impression of you." She said, as he made his way into her apartment.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Hey Kurt, Blaine." He said, nodding at the couple.

"Hey Finn, so I heard that you told Rachel you loved her, good for you pal!" Blaine said, shaking Finn's hand. Finn blushed and looked at Rachel.

"Yeah, I love her." He looked at Kurt in that moment. "I really love her." Kurt nodded in understanding at Finn's words.

"I'm happy for you guys." Kurt said, looking between them. He looked at the clock on the wall. "Isn't it time you lovers get going? Rachel, your dads aren't going to be too happy at your tardiness." He smirked.

"Oh, shoot! You're right Kurt." She turned to Finn. "I'm just gonna go get my coat and we'll go." She said, heading towards her room. As he heard her door open, Kurt turned to Finn.

"Finn, I like you, but I swear-" He couldn't even finish he sentence before Finn interrupted him.

"I love her, Kurt. I do, I really do." The look in Finn's eyes were enough to make Kurt to let go of his threat.

"Alright! Let's go Finny. Kurt, I will see you later, and maybe you Blaine? I suspect you're going to stay the night?" She smiled.

"You probably will see me later." Blaine nodded. "Nice to see you again Finn." He smiled.

"You too Blaine, and Kurt." He gave Kurt one more look before he was dragged out of the apartment. When the door closed, Kurt turned to his boyfriend.

"Before you say anything Kurt, I really think that he means it. I don't think that he would lie and said he loved her if he really didn't." He stared at Kurt. Blaine could see the wheels turning in his head. "Kurt, really, I don't think that he would do _that_. Quinn might have set him up to dance with her, but I would bet my bank account that Finn would never be that cruel." He reached out to hold his lover's hand.

"You're right, Blaine." Kurt sighed. "He really means it, I can tell. But I can't help but to feel like all of this is going to blow up in his face." He sighed. "And you know Rachel, if she doubts for a second what his real intentions are, she is never going to believe what his true ones are."

"I know baby, but that is why all of us are here, so that we can make sure she knows how much he means what he's saying. And even if she doesn't believe us right away, she will when she realizes how much she misses him. But Kurt," He squeezed Kurt's hand tighter. "You cannot tell her, and you cannot worry about that until or if that moment in time happens. Let it take it's course. Besides, don't all great romances have problems like that?" He winked and pulled him in for a hug.

"You better be right Blaine Anderson, because she is my best friend, and I know this will kill her." Blaine nodded. "She had sex with him."

"Yes, she had sex with him." Blaine agreed.

"No, that bitch had sex and didn't tell me the details!" Kurt screeched. "I cannot believe her. No wonder she was dancing around her room last night when she got home."

"Leave it alone, and even though I know you won't, ask her when the whole stress of Finn meeting her dads dies down. You and I both know that Finn is going to do something to screw it up and piss off Rachel and her dads."

"You're right. Okay, let's go, I'm hungry, and I need to plan my attack on Rachel about her new sex life." He giggled, pulling Blaine towards the door.

Rachel sat at the table waiting for her dads to arrive at the restaurant. Next to her. Finn continued to fiddle with his tie, as he had been for the past ten minutes. "Finn, baby, they are going to love you like I do, relax," She grabbed his tie and straightened it out for him. "Please, you're perfect." She smiled.

"It's scary, Rach, I mean I've met parents before. The dad is usually tough on me, but the mom always seems to make her husband relax." He sighed. "But now, there's two dads, so I don't know who's gonna calm them down when I do something stupid."

"You are not going to do anything stupid Finn. You are going to be brilliant. You always are." Rachel took his hand in hers. "Oh, look, there they are now." Rachel stood up as her dads approached the table, Finn rose behind her, not sure what to do. "Finny, these are my dads, Hiram and Leroy. Dad, daddy, this is my Finn" Rachel beamed. She looked at Finn who smiled at her dads. The shorter of the tow men reached out to shake Finn's hand.

"Hello, Finn, it's a pleasure to meet you." The man smiled. "Our Berry Pie has told us all about you. I'm Hiram, and this," He gestured to the bigger man behind him. "And this is the light of my life, Leroy." The bigger man, just glared in Finn's direction, staring him down. "Oh, come now Leroy, shake the boys hand." Hiram said, elbowing his partner in the side.

"Hello Finn." Leroy said skeptically. "It's nice to meet you." He said, taking his seat next to Rachel, as Hiram sat next to Finn. "So Rachel, what have you been up to these days?" he asked, seeming to ignore Finn's presence.

"Not a lot, I've just been looking for jobs. Finn here has been such a big help, always looking in the newspapers for something, anything that would be good for me." She smiled at her boyfriend, trying to put him at ease.

He smiled as she grabbed his hand under the table and squeezed it. "Yeah, I've been trying to help her as much as I can." Hiram smiled at him.

"That's very kind of you to be helping our Berry Pie find a job." He looked at his partner. "Isn't that nice of Finn, Leroy?" Leroy gave Finn a smug smile.

"Yes Finn, that is very thoughtful of you," looked at Rachel. "But don't you think that you should be looking for a job yourself? You're not going to learn anything if you have Finn here solve all your problems."

"Dad, what are you talking about? Finn is just helping me look, it's not like he's going to the place and getting me the job because I'm too lazy to do it myself." Rachel snapped. "Finn is just trying to give me the options because he wants to see me succeed. Isn't that right Finn?" She asked, looking at him expectantly.

"Uh," Finn started, looking around the table at the glares he was receiving. "I-I guess. I mean, I do want her to succeed. I want the best for Rachel." He said, looking Leroy in the eye.

"Yes, Leroy, Finn wants the best for our Rachel." He nodded. Just as Leroy was about to say something back, Finn's phone rang.

"Oh, gosh." He said, both embarrassed and relieved to get away from the awkward conversation he was suddenly involved in. "I'm sorry." He said looking at his called ID which read 'Puck'. "It's my job," he lied smoothly. "I have to take this." He gave Rachel an apologetic smile as he excused himself from the table.

As soon as he was a good distance away, Rachel turned to Leroy. "Dad, what is your problem? Is there something wrong with Finn?"

"Rachel, he is not good enough for you." He said seriously.

"What do you know? You've barely spoken to him long enough to even know what his job is."

"And what exactly is his job, Rachel?" Leroy asked.

"Leroy, let the boy tell us when he gets back, there is no use attacking Rachel." Hiram said, grabbing Leroy's hand.

"No. I do not want to hear it from him. I want to know why Rachel thinks that this boy is so special. From what I've seen of him, he is nothing but a tall oaf." Rachel gasped at her father.

"I cannot believe you just said that about my boyfriend Dad." She screeched. "You do not even know him. How dare you." She said, standing up.

"Rachel, where are you going?" Hiram asked.

"I cannot sit here with him." She pointed at Leroy. "I don't know what happened today to make him be in such a bad mood, or what his problem is, but I will not sit here and tolerate my father insulting the man that I love." Hiram's face lit up.

"Sweetie, you're in love with him? That's fantastic!" He reached over and grabbed his daughter's hand. "Leroy." He said sternly. "Isn't that great? Our Berry Pie is in love."

"No, it is not great. This boy is going to break your heart Rachel, I know it."

"That is none of your business if he breaks my heart or not. I love him, and I want to be with him. That is not your decision. As my parent, you decided what schools I went to, what I ate, what I wore. You will not tell me who to love." She let Hiram's hand fall from her grasp. "I'm sorry Daddy," she said to Hiram. "I am leaving." She grabbed her bag from the table. "I will call you when I cool down."

"Berry Pie, wait!" Hiram called, as Rachel was halfway to the door. She didn't look back. If there was one thing that Rachel learned from being an actress it was that once you start a storm out, you always follow through.

"Finn, we're leaving." She said, as she saw him standing in front of the restaurants, hands in his pockets. "Who was on the phone?"

"It was Puck. I just wanted to get out of that awkwardness. Wait. Why are we leaving? What happened?"

"My father, even though I don't even really want to be related to him right now, decided that he doesn't approve of our relationship." Finn felt his stomach drop. "Which makes no sense to me, because my Daddy loved you."

"Wait, your Dad doesn't like me? Why? What did I do? I was there for like three minutes before Puck called me." Finn said, a confused look plastered on his face.

"I really don't know, baby." She said, placing her hand on the side of Finn's face.

"But, I didn't do anything." Finn repeated, this time a sad look replacing the confused one.

"I know, Finn, I am so sorry, I don't know what's wrong with him. I really don't." She kissed him on the cheek and grabbed his hand. "Let's go back to my place. I need to talk to Kurt."

"He really didn't like me?" He asked as they walked back towards her apartment.

"Let's go baby, we'll talk more about it when we get home."

"Kurt?" Rachel said as she entered the apartment. "Kurt are you here?"

"Rach, are you gonna tell me why this is such a big deal? So your dad didn't like me the first time he met me. I'm sure he'll warm up to me." Rachel ignored him and continued calling out to her friend.

"Kurt? Quinn? Are you guys here?" She yelled. Hoping one of her friends would pop out of their rooms.

"Rachel," he said, pulling her close to him. "It's okay, I'll win him over, I promise."

"It's not that." Rachel sighed. "It's just, whenever my Dad doesn't like someone, he basically disowns me until I either get rid of the person he doesn't like. Or until he realizes how immature he's being and then gives the person another chance.

Finn gulped. "Does he really do that?"

"Yeah, he did it to Kurt, that's why I'm trying to find him. If Kurt of all people got past my fathers indignant rejection, then you can too."

"I don't know what that means Rach." He smiled. "But I promise, as long as you don't get rid of me, I'll make your Dad love me." He pecked her on the cheek.

"I just don't want you to think that it makes me love you any less." Rachel said quietly.

"Oh baby." Finn said, wrapping his arms around her tiny frame. "I know you love me. I do." He kissed her on the lips.

Rachel sighed in his embrace. "Let's go to bed, baby." She kissed him again, grabbing his hand, directing him to the bedroom. Finn raised his eyebrows and followed in suit.

"Wait, do you mean go to bed, or go to _bed_" he joked.

"I mean let's go lay down, and whatever happens, happens. But more likely then not, you Mr. Neanderthal might get lucky" Rachel said slyly, leaving Finn in the hallway as she walked into her room.

"I like that idea." He said. Eying Rachel as she walked. Yeah, Finn Hudson was going to make her dad love him. There was no way he was going to give up this perfect girl, ever.

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><p><strong>Alright, I hope it wasn't too terrible.<br>The title is from Taylor's "Back to December".  
><strong>**To my lovely Beta; Finchelislove, really, go check out her stuff.  
>And to those of you that still want to continue reading, I promise I will update ASAP.<br>By the way, I hope you all had wonderful holidays! :) **


	10. what you've been looking for

**Well, it's been forever since I uploaded a new chapter, and for that, there is really no excuse, but the fact that my semester started so it's been a wee bit hectic on my end. But here is my next chapter. This one includes something that I really wasn't planning on putting in here, but I decided to add as I was writing, because I didn't think I was being fair to a certain group of people who may be reading this Fic. (You'll see as you read.) So here we go, enjoy!**

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><p>Rachel could not believe that her and Finn had been dating for five months. And she wasn't going to lie, they were the best three months of her life. She knew that she had to get a job, but Finn wasn't putting any pressure on her to find one. He always reminded her how talented she was and how something was waiting for her right around the corner. But, still, Christmas was coming, and she knew that she needed to find something fast, otherwise she wasn't going to be able to get Finn anything.<p>

Her phone started to ring and she smiled to herself, thinking that Finn knew she was thinking about him. "Hello, handsome." She answered.

"Hey, baby. What are you doing for Christmas?" he asked. Rachel suddenly got really freaked out.

"Do you have like a chip implanted in my brain to tell what I'm thinking or something Finn Hudson?" she giggled. "I was literally just thinking about how I have to find a job so that I can get you something special for Christmas."

"Well that's very sweet of you Rach, but like the song says, all I want for Christmas is you." She smiled. Her boyfriend always knew the right thing to say to her. "So as I was asking, what are you doing. And no by the way, I don't have a chip implanted in your head, I just know that you think about me all the time."

"Oh really Mr. Cocky, just how do you know that?" She smiled.

"Because I'm always thinking of you."

"Oh, I call cheese Finn." She laughed.

"What? That is definitely NOT cheese, Rach, that was heartfelt." Rachel laughed at their term. She had decided one night after hearing nothing but cheesey compliments from him that anytime one of them said anything remotely cheesy, the other would call cheese.

"It totally is cheese, but to answer you, yes I do think about you all of the time, and I am guessing, I am going to be with you this Christmas?"

"Well, seeing as though your dads still haven't warmed up to me yet…" Finn said. Rachel was still very angry at her father for commenting on her relationship with Finn. "I figured maybe you would like to fly out to Lima for Christmas with me to meet my mom." His voice sounded hopeful and she was very excited to hear him ask her that.

"I would love to meet your mom Finn." She said, grinning ear to ear.

"Well that's good." He laughed, "Because I already booked us our plane tickets."

"Someone is extremely cocky today aren't we Finnegan?" She said, knowing he was going to be mad that she used his real name.

"HEY! I told you that in confidence" He faked gasped. "But anyway, yes, I knew that you would come to visit my mom with me, because she already loves you from whatever times she has spoken to you."

"Yes, that is true, she does love me." Rachel smiled. From the times that she talked to Carole on the phone, she could already tell that the woman who raised her wonderful boyfriend was even more wonderful, of course, she would never tell Finn that.

"Well, then, it's settled, you are coming home with me over Christmas. I know that she cannot wait to meet you."

"And I cannot wait to meet her, or see where you grew up Finn. Honestly, I am very excited." She truly was excited for this. She loved that her and Finn were doing so good, and it seemed like nothing in the world could stop them from being so happy. She heard the door to the apartment open, and saw Kurt come in with a dozen shopping bags and a grimace on his face. She frowned at the sight in front of her.

"Finn, I gotta go, something's up with Kurt, I love you."

"I love you too, baby." She smiled and snapped her phone shut, turning to the sad friend on the sofa.

"So what's up, Kurt?" she asked, with a worried expression on her face. She knew that when he had that many bags, usually something was bothering him before he went shopping, and by the time he was done, he was as happy as a clam. But as she took in Kurt's face, she knew it was something that shopping couldn't fix.

Kurt sighed, turning to face her. "Nothing, it's just that Blaine is acting really weird. I can't quite put my finger on what's going on. I think that he doesn't want to be with me anymore." He sighed again, tears welling in his eyes.

"Kurt, that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life, if you think that for even a moment, you are crazy, he's been in love with you since you guys met." Kurt started to speak, but Rachel put her finger up to silence him. "You just wouldn't bring yourself to admit that because you were scared, but both Quinn and I know how happy you two make each other, so obviously this is all in your head."

"You're right Rachel, I don't know why I was so worried." He said, but she could tell he didn't believe her. "I guess I'll go put this stuff away." He said, getting off the couch picking up his bags.

"Hey, how about you, me, and Quinn all go out tonight. We'll go to the sushi bar, sing some songs, just forget everything going on in our lives." She offered him a small smile.

"Alright." He said, walking towards his room. "As long as you're paying." She chuckled as he went out of sight. When she was sure that he was busy with his bags, he pulled out her phone to text Blaine.

"**So, the plan's on for tonight, Kurt is going to the bar with me and Quinn. We'll meet you there."**

Blaine answered right away.

"**Good, he doesn't know anything is up, does he?"**

Rachel smirked.

"**He thinks you're going to break up with him, not that you're gonna propose to him."**

Rachel was ecstatic. Kurt and Blaine had known each other since high school, and ever since then, she knew that they were made for each other. And when Quinn said that they were more than just friends, Rachel knew that it was only a matter of time before Blaine made it official between the two of them, and she couldn't be happier.

Finn smiled to himself as he walked into his office. He was not only excited that him and Rachel were doing so well, but he was more excited that he got to bring her home to meet his mom. His mom was all he had growing up, besides Puck, but that wasn't that much. So he was excited to bring home the girl that he loved.

He plopped his briefcase on his desk and removed his coat, hanging it neatly on the coat rack. He got out his phone and dialed his moms number, smiling at the picture he had on his desk of him and Rachel from a few weeks prior at a festival in Greenwich Village. "Hey, Mom." He said when he heard his mother's voice.

"Hi, Finny." Her cheery voice said from the other end.

"So, good news, Rach is coming with me to see you over Christmas, isn't that great?" He knew how much his mom already loved her from both the times he spoke of her and the times that she spoke to Rachel on the phone.

"Oh, that's wonderful Finny!" She gushed. "I am so excited, and you know dear, we can even set up a menorah for her, so she doesn't feel completely left out."

"That's a good idea Mom."

"Oh, Finny, I'm so excited to meet her. You always say how great she is, and she sounds just so lovely…." He could tell she was getting teary-eyed on the other end.

"Oh, Mom, don't cry…"

"I can't help it Finny, you sound so happy." He heard her sniffle.

"I am. I am very happy. But, I gotta go, I have work to do. But I love you, okay?"

Carole blew her nose before she answered her son. "I love you too, Finny. I can't wait to see you, and finally meet Rachel." With that, he hung up the phone.

Rachel, Quinn, and a depressed Kurt walked into their favorite restaurant and were escorted by their favorite waitress to their usual table. Safe to say, they were there way too much for any New Yorker. When they had placed their order, Rachel sent Finn a quick text message to make his way there, while Quinn texted Puck the same. Rachel was glad that Quinn was in on this whole thing too, because she didn't think that she could keep something this big from both of her best friends.

"So, who's gonna sign up to sing tonight?" Suzy asked as she brought their food to the table. Quinn and Rachel looked at each other as Kurt volunteered himself to sign up.

"Um, no Kurt, I think that I want to sing tonight." Rachel piped up. "You're sad, you don't want to sing tonight." She said, standing to make her way to the signup sheet. The bar had made a unanimous decision to only allow one of the three to sing a night. This rule was decided when all three friends completely ruined the self esteem of every patron, by each singing one after the other. None of the other people had the nerve to go on after them, so the bar just decided to only let one of them sing a night, which the trio agreed was fair. After all, they were the most talented people that step foot into the bar.

"Um, actually, that's exactly why I want to sing." Kurt interjected. "Music is the best medicine for a broken heart." He said, as he stood up. Luckily, Quinn stepped in and saved the day.

"Actually Kurt, you sang last time, remember? You sang "Defying Gravity" because you wanted to show everyone that you could hit the high F after all that time you spent practicing?"

"Oh yeah," he pouted. "Oh well, I guess you can go this time Rachel, whatever, fair is fair." He sat down, and Rachel felt guilty seeing her best friend so upset. Her guilt cleared though when she signed her name on the sheet, knowing that in the matter of minutes, Kurt would be one of the happiest people in the world.

By the time they were done eating, Rachel still hadn't gotten any texts with Blaine's whereabouts, and she was getting nervous. She couldn't ask Quinn if she had, but the way that she kept eyeing the door, Rachel knew that Quinn knew something that she didn't. Finally, Rachel got what she was waiting for. Quinn nodded in her direction as Suzy came over to Rachel to tell her that they were ready for her to sing. Quinn motioned for her to go, and Rachel smiled, taking this as her cue that Blaine was here, and it was happening. "Kurt, I'll be right back, I have to pee." Quinn said, also excusing herself from the table, following Rachel.

As she walked to the stage, she saw Finn and Puck out of the corner of her eye, along with an absolutely terrified looking Blaine. When he saw her, Blaine smiled, giving her a weak thumbs up, and Rachel smiled back, motioning for him to go to Kurt, and he did. As Blaine made his way to the table, Rachel took her spot on stage, followed by Quinn who sat next to her. Though the bar had a rule against them singing, they had decided to make an exception for this occasion.

"Um," Blaine cleared his throat. "Hey, Kurt." He said as he reached the table. Kurt looked up to see his boyfriend standing at the table.

"Blaine? What are you doing here? You said you had plans tonight.." Kurt asked.

"Well, these were kind of my plans." Blaine shrugged. "Okay listen," he started, sitting across from a very confused Kurt. "I need to talk to you about something, but you have to promise me, you will not get mad at me for it."

Kurt stiffened at his words, not noticing everyone in the bar growing silent, or that Rachel had not even begin to sing yet, "Okay." He agreed.

"I know that you and I have had our problems. I mean it's taken us this long to even get us to be together because you were so scared that I was gonna hurt you or something." Kurt shook his head. "No, Kurt, you said you'd let me finish." He stopped and started listening to Blaine again. "You are the biggest piece of work that there is Kurt, and you sure as hell know that. But, what you don't know, is that you are the kindest, and most amazing guy that I have ever met. You move me, Kurt. More than anyone that I have ever met in my life." Blaine said, standing from his seat. "I've know since the moment that I met you, that I loved you. And even though it's been a bumpy ride, that has never changed. I would have waited forever for you, because I want to be with you forever." He reached into his pocket to pull out a box, getting onto one knee. As Kurt finally understood what was going on in front of him, his eyes grew wide. "Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, will you marry me?" Rachel heard Kurt gasp, as Kurt took in the tiny silver band that was in the box in Blaine's hand.

Kurt looked up at Rachel, who was smiling from ear to ear holding Quinn's hand, who's expression matched Quinn's. Rachel nodded at Kurt before he looked back at Blaine. "Yes." Kurt choked out. Blaine stood up and grabbed his boyfriend and pulled him into a hug, as the bar erupted in applause.

"I know that it's stupid to get you a ring." Blaine said, slipping it onto his fiancée's finger. "But I figured you would like the romantic gesture."

"It was perfect." Kurt smiled, "And so are you." He said, kissing Blaine on the lips, causing both Quinn and Rachel to erupt in cheers and applause. Knowing that this was her cue, Rachel turned to the karaoke machine, and selected the song that she wanted to sing for this occasion.

"May I have this dance?" Blaine asked, taking Kurt by the hand as Kurt nodded his head, tears slipping down his face.

As the music started playing, Rachel turned to look at Finn. She knew that this occasion was supposed to be all about Kurt and Blaine, but as the music started to play, she couldn't help herself but to sing to Finn.

_Heart beats fast_

_Colors and promises_

_How to be brave_

_How can I love when I'm afraid to fall_

_But watching you stand alone_

_All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow_

_One step closer_

Rachel knew as she sang that this song applied to everything that was Finn Hudson. Every single word that came from her mouth, described everything that she felt for Finn.

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling don't be afraid I have loved you_

_For a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_Time stands still_

_Beauty in all she is_

_I will be brave_

_I will not let anything take away_

_What's standing in front of me_

_Every breath_

_Every hour has come to this_

_One step closer_

Rachel looked away from Finn to watch Kurt and Blaine on the dance floor, smiling as she saw them. He looked the happiest that he had ever been, and when she glanced at Quinn, she could tell that she was feeling the exact same way.

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling don't be afraid I have loved you_

_For a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_And all along I believed I would find you_

_Time has brought your heart to me_

_I have loved you for a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_One step closer_

_One step closer_

Tears fell from Rachel's eyes as she continued to sing to Finn, who was looking at her with the softest expression on his face. She could tell by just that look, that Finn felt everything that she did.

_I have died everyday waiting for you_

_Darling don't be afraid I have loved you_

_For a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

_And all along I believed I would find you_

_Time has brought your heart to me_

_I have loved you for a thousand years_

_I'll love you for a thousand more_

The bar applauded again after she and Quinn finished singing. When they got off the stage, Kurt ran to them and pulled them into a group hug, squealing. Rachel and Quinn joined in, as the three started to cry together from excitement.

"I'm engaged!" Kurt said, jumping up and down clapping.

"We know!" Rachel and Quinn said in unison, smiling. Kurt turned to Rachel.

"That's why you were suspicious today when I was telling you what was wrong this afternoon."

"Guilty." Rachel shrugged, noticing that Finn was walking towards her. "I'll be right back." She smiled, as she turned to walk to Finn. "Well, now I'm going to need a date to their wedding." She smiled.

"Oh, really?" Finn said. "Well I think that I know the perfect guy for that job."

"Oh? And who is that?" Rachel smirked.

"Well, he's really tall, and he's kinda dorky, and extremely clumsy." He sighed. "But if there's one thing for certain," he said, grabbing her by the waist, pulling her into his chest, swaying her back and forth as some slow music came on. "He loves you very much." He said, leaning down and kissing her softly.

"Well, if that's the case." She smiled into his lips, "I think I'll take him." She kissed him again. "I love you too, Finn."

"For a thousand years, Rachel." He said, kissing her forehead. Rachel leaned into his chest, as he held her, looking at the room around her. She and Finn weren't the only ones on the dance floor. The couples in the bar were on the floor as well. Rachel looked over at Kurt who had his head on Blaine's chest as they swayed to the music. She had never seen Kurt look so happy, and that made her smile even wider.

She noticed Quinn and Puck at a table in the corner of the bar, Quinn sitting casually on Puck's lap, both of them looking at each other like they were the best thing the other had seen. Rachel's heart swelled at the sight. She had never been happier then she was with Finn, and the fact that her two best friends found someone who made them equally as happy as her, made her feel even more happy.

She didn't know when she became so lucky. She had lost her job six months ago. Six months ago she was just a sad lonely person, and so were her best friends. But since then, everything had gotten better. She knew that she could be in an off Broadway show, or maybe even be a full on Broadway star by now, but as she danced around with Finn, she knew that if she had any of those things, she wouldn't be with him, and maybe Quinn wouldn't have been with Puck, and Kurt may have decided that he was never going to be able to admit that he was in fact in love with Blaine. As Finn held her to his chest, Rachel decided that she wouldn't trade this life for a Broadway career. Rachel knew in her heart that she wouldn't trade the life that she had for anything else in the world

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><p><strong>Credits;<br>****The title of the chapter is from "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift**.  
><strong>The song that Rachel and Quinn sing is actually the song that was on repeat on my iTunes as I wrote, which is called "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri, which is actually now the song that makes me think of Finchel any time it comes on my iPod.<br>****My beta is love; Finchelislove3 she just posted a new oneshot, go read it!  
><strong>**Review if you want! :)  
><strong>**I hope you Klainer's enjoyed this one, because this one was for you guys! :P**


	11. all the magic we made

**Okay, so it's amazing that I managed two updates in the matter of three days! I know, I love it too. :) This one is considerably shorter than the rest of my other chapters, but this one was really a filler for what has to happen in the next few. I hope that you'll forgive me, but I have seemed to get my writing mojo back, and there's only gonna be a few chapters left, so there's gonna be some angst coming, but I really hope this chapter makes up for it. And I want to formally apologize if my smut writing is terrible. It's my first legit smut. **

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><p>Finn sat at Rachel's kitchen island, watching his girlfriend fly around the apartment searching for things to pack. Seeing her so excited to meet his mom made his heart swell. In all his life, Finn had never met anyone that he deemed worthy enough to meet his mom. Sure, he had dated a few girls that he was serious with, but none of them compared to Rachel. "Finn!" She called from her bedroom. "Can you help me with this?" Finn made his way to her bedroom, his eyes widening when he saw what she needed help with. Laying on the bed in front of him was her suitcase, overflowing with clothes, and Rachel herself sitting atop it. She motioned him over with her arms. "Come here and zip it." She said, bouncing her butt on the suitcase, trying to make it flatter.<p>

"Uh, baby, I don't think that this is gonna work." He said, bending over to try and zip it. He managed to get the zipper to move about an inch, before it snagged on a piece of fabric on the inside. "Shit." He said, and Rachel hopped off of the bag.

"Finn! That's my Christmas sweater!" She whispered the ending, trying for Finn not to hear her. When he started to chuckle, she knew he did.

"I'm sorry?" He giggled. "That's your what?" He asked, taking her into his arms when he saw the pout appear on her face.

"I got a special Christmas sweater for when we went to your house. I'm of the Jewish faith," Finn rolled his eyes, he loved that every time she talked about being Jewish she said she was 'of the Jewish faith'. "And so I got a special sweater to celebrate my first Christmas." She sighed, pulling away from Finn to unzip the suitcase. She pulled out the sweater to see if there was any damage. When she saw that there was none, she let our a breath of air. "It's okay!" She smiled, turning back into Finn's chest. "I know it's silly, I just wanted our first Christmas to be special."

Finn smiled at her words. _Our first Christmas _he thought to himself, _that has a good ring to it. _He was pulled away from his thoughts by the sound of Rachel's phone ringing. He tried to hold onto her so she couldn't get it. "Finny…" she said, struggling in his grasp. He sighed and let her go, watching her prance out of the room. He soon followed in suit, taking his original place at the kitchen counter, watching as Rachel answered her phone.

"Hello?" She asked. "Yes, this is she." Finn grabbed an apple from the bowl on the counter as he continued to watch Rachel. "Yeah, I was there last night… I'm sorry, you're a what?" she gasped. Finn couldn't tell if the gasp was good or bad. "Oh my goodness, are you kidding?" she squealed. Finn looked at her with a puzzled look on his face as she held up her finger. _One second _she mouthed. "Oh my gosh! That would be amazing! I can totally do that! Right after Christmas? That would be perfect." The smile on Rachel's lips was big enough to put a smile on Finn's. She hung up the phone and started to jump up and down.

"And who was that Ms. Berry?" Finn asked, taking a bite of his apple.

She stopped jumping up and down long enough to run to Finn and throw her arms around him, almost knocking him off his chair. "Finn! That was Henry Smythe." She continued as she took in the 'I have no idea who that is' look on his face. "He is an agent, specializing in Broadway clientele." Finn still had no idea where this was going. "Apparently he was at the bar when Blaine proposed to Kurt, and has spent all that time tracking me down." Realization seeped into his brain. He smiled as she finished her thought. "And he wants to be my agent, Finn! He wants to get me on Broadway!" She squealed as she leapt into his arms again. This time he was braced for it, and gripped her tightly.

"Rach, baby, that is amazing! I am so proud of you!" He said, kissing her cheek as she pulled away to look at him.

"Finny, my dreams are gonna come true." She said, her eyes lining with tears. Rachel knew she was a drama queen, but this was something that she couldn't help. Just a short time ago, she was miserable and jobless, and now she was meeting with an agent after Christmas.

"Yeah they are, Rach! I can't believe this!" he pulled her in to kiss her. She kissed him back, tears streaming down her face. "You deserve this so much." He whispered against her lips. She smiled as she kissed him again, this time more passionately. Finn pulled her tighter against him, running his hands down her back. He was so proud of her.

Rachel pulled away and grabbed Finn's hand. She bit her lip as he stood, following her as she lead him to her bedroom. He scooped her up bridal style, kicking the door shut behind him. He gently laid on the bed, kissing her as he did. "Rachel Berry, the Broadway star." Finn whispered, moving his lips to her neck.

She smiled. "I love the sound of that." She breathed as his lips moved to her collarbone.

"You know what I love?" Finn asked, raising his head to look her in the eye. She shook her head. "I love your forehead" he said, leaning down to kiss her forehead. "And I love your cheeks," he said as he kissed both of her cheeks. "And I love your nose," she giggled as he kissed it. "And I love your lips," he said, leaning to gently kiss her lips. "But most importantly, Rachel Berry, the Broadway star, I love you." She beamed at him grabbing his face to kiss him again, this time harder than before.

Rachel couldn't believe that an agent wanted her. She had the opportunity to be a famous Broadway star. She had a million thoughts going through her head, but those were completely erased, as Finn's tongue entered her mouth. She grabbed the hem of Finn's shirt, desperately trying to pull it off of him. He broke their kiss, as he tore it off his body, only to return his lips to Rachel's skin. He made his way down the front of her shirt, mentally thanking her for wearing only a tank top that day.

Finn's hands slid under her shirt, sliding it up, and Rachel moaned as he kissed the skin that his hands had revealed. He made his way back down her stomach, to the waist line of her skirt. Unbuttoning it with his teeth, Finn slowly pulled the skirt from her body, letting it fall to the floor in front of her bed. Rachel pulled him back up to kiss her, hot kisses making it difficult for her to unbutton his jeans as they kissed. He ended her struggle by taking them off of her himself, stripping himself of his boxers as well.

When their lips fused together once more, Finn reached down between Rachel's legs, feeling the wetness that was pooling. "Baby, you're so wet." He moaned into her mouth, moving the thin fabric aside so he could feel her better. She moaned at the contact of his fingers on her folds, unintentionally bucking her hips.

As he massaged her clit, Rachel sat up, yanking off her shirt. Seeing the new skin Finn had left unkissed, Finn moved his mouth to her right breast, lightly licking her nipple. He heard Rachel groan below her, and he took this as his permission to continue his work. He took the pebbled nub into his mouth, lightly sucking on it, as he slid a finger into Rachel, causing her to gasp with delight.

Rachel could feel Finn's hardness against her leg, and suddenly wanted more than his fingers inside of her. "Finn," she breathed, "Baby, I want you."

"What do you want?" he whispered gruffly, voice laced with lust. He moved his face to her hear, nibbling slightly on her earlobe. The hot breath from his whisper sent shivers down Rachel's spine as she tried to formulate a response in her head.

"I want you… I want…" she moaned, as he slid another finger into her, rubbing her clit with his thumb. "I want you in me." She said. He didn't need to be told twice, as he then pulled off her panties. Finn kissed up her legs, to her thighs lightly licking it as he moved his face towards her center. She wriggled with pleasure under him. "Baby-y-y please." She begged. Finn moved up and positioned himself at her entrance.

"Condom, Rach?" he asked, his eyes pleading for her to get one.

"I'm on the pill now." She said, through labored breaths, "Surprise." And with that, Finn thrust into her, eliciting a delicious moan from Rachel's mouth. Rachel met each of Finn's thrusts with one of her own, wanting to feel more of him.

"Oh god, Rach." Finn groaned. Their sex had been good before, but this was all new, the feeling of actually _feeling _her for the first time, was more than enough to send him over the edge, but he wanted her to reach her peak first. Finn reached his hand in between them, finding her sensitive nub and massaging it.

Finn felt Rachel's walls clenching against him, and felt her come apart underneath him. Just the sight of her coming over the edge made him tumble over his. "Rachel." He breathed, as he came inside of her, collapsing against her chest. The sound of their heavy breathing was the only noise in the room. "I love you." Finn said, kissing her lips gently. "And I cannot wait until you are the star that you deserve to be."

"Rachel, are you ready to go? Finn is basically wearing a hole in the floor from pacing." Quinn yelled, watching in amusement as Finn paced back and forth in front of the luggage that he now needed to lug through the airport.

"Who really needs two suitcases for a five day trip?" Finn asked Quinn, as he heard Rachel make her way down the hallway.

"I will have you know, Finn Hudson, that one of those bags have your mother and your Christmas present in them, and if you aren't going to be nice to me, you aren't going to get yours." Finn pouted as he grabbed the heavier of the two suitcases, and his own walking towards the door as Rachel said her goodbyes to Quinn. "Now remember, when I get home, we're gonna have to throw him a bachelorette party." He heard Rachel say to her friend.

"I know." Quinn answered. "Let's just hope he doesn't become a groomzilla over the next few weeks."

"Well, I'll be home in less than a week, so for now, you have the apartment to yourself, because God only knows when him and Blaine are ever gonna leave his apartment now that they're engaged." Rachel laughed. "I love you." She said, kissing Quinn on the cheek.

"Love you too, have a safe flight. You too, Finn!" Quinn called after them as they closed the door. "I just really hope nothing goes wrong in Ohio." Quinn said to herself, grabbing magazine. "Another diva is the last thing I need."

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><p><strong>Song title credits go to Taylor Swift's "Long Live"<br>My lovely beta Finchelislove just put out a very dirty, but very well written sumt, for any of those readers that love that stuff. ;)  
>As always, thank you all for reading and reviewing or whatever you guys are doing, there's really not a lot of credits for this chapter, other than the fact I completely jacked Sebastian's last name for the agent.<br>Oh yes, and the whole "Cheese" thing from the last chapter, is actually something that me and my boyfriend do, because we are always using cheesy lines with one another. :) **


	12. what people have up their sleeves

**Alright, this is another short one. I am sorry about that, I'm just trying to avoid writing the angsty Finchel, especially because they are so perfect on the show right now. But alas, that is what I have to do. So enjoy this fluffly loving Carole/Finchel chapter. I just finished it, so it's hot off the keyboard!  
>*** Also, someone had asked me in the questions a while back what Rachel's tattoo says, it says "Now's your moment." from "Kiss The Girl" (not mine!) <strong>

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><p>Finn and Rachel got off of their plane in Dayton. She had thought they could take a plane right to Lima, but Finn informed her that since Lima was so small, they didn't have an airport they could go to, instead, they were to fly to Dayton, and Carole would pick them up.<p>

As they made their way to baggage claim, Rachel felt a surge of nervousness in her stomach. She was actually here, meeting Finn's mom. She had never met another man's family before. Well, she had met Kurt's dad, Burt, but that was different, because for one, Kurt was gay, so she knew nothing was going to come of that relationship, but reason two made her even more nervous. She loved Finn with everything that she had, and reason number two for being nervous was, what if Carole didn't like her.

She had talked to Carole many times on the phone before, casually speaking about anything and everything to do with their relationship. Finn had even sent his mother a picture of the two of them from Halloween. Carole had called immediately after laughing asking about how she had convinced Finn to wear matching costumes with her. Of course, Rachel had persuaded him with a special little black thing from Victoria's Secret, but she couldn't tell Carole that. Instead, Rachel just laughed, saying that she had no idea how se got so lucky to have a guy like Finn. Finn broke her from her brief flashback, nudging her as her bright pink bag came around the luggage carousel.

As they made their way to the front of the airport, they heard someone calling Finn's name. Rachel turned to see a small woman in her early forties, running towards Finn, with a huge smile plastered on her face. As she reached them, Finn reached down to envelop her in his arms, smiling. "Oh, Finny! It's so good to see you!" Carole Hudson said, taking her son's face in her hands and kissing his cheeks. I'm so happy you're here!" Rachel giggled at the blush that spread across Finn's cheeks, as Carole turned to face her. "And this beautiful little lady must be the one and only Rachel Berry." She said, reaching for Rachel, pulling her into a hug.

"It's so lovely to finally meet you Mrs. Hudson!" Rachel said, Finn couldn't help but to smile at the sight of his mother and his girlfriend hugging. His two favorite girls in the world finally met.

"Oh please! Mrs. Hudson is my mother in law, call me Carole!" She laughed, grabbing Rachel's arm and looping it with hers. "Finny, grab the bags, me and Rachel have so much to talk about!" Finn opened his mouth to protest, but stopped as Carole gave him a _'you better do what I say' _look and walked with Rachel towards the door.

"Carole, this dinner was amazing!" Rachel said as she wiped her face with a napkin. Rachel had felt so welcomed into the Hudson household, she could barely keep a smile off of her face.

_As they got to the house after the airport, Carole immediately took her for a tour of the house. She showed Rachel every inch of it, and it seemed, that every inch Carole had a different Finn story to go along with it. _

_When they got to the living room, Carole grew quiet. She went over to an old recliner that was sitting in the corner of the room. She opened her mouth to speak, but Finn beat her to it. "That was my Dad's favorite chair." He said quietly. "And this," he said, reaching for the picture that sat on the table next to the chair. "Is the only picture that we have of me and my dad. And it was taken in that chair." Rachel grabbed Finn's hand as he spoke of his father. "Mom wanted to throw it out one day," She looked at Carole who had placed her hand on the arm of the chair. "But we never could, it hurt too much." _

"_Do you want to meet him?" Carole spoke up. Rachel looked at her confused, as Carole made her way to the fireplace, grabbing a silver urn in her hands. Rachel looked at Finn who nodded at her. _

"_You don't have to if it makes you uncomfortable or anything, Rach." Finn said, squeezing Rachel's hand. _

_Rachel let go of his hand, and went towards Carole, reaching her hands out for the urn. Carole gave it to her, and Rachel moved to sit on the couch, placing the urn on the table in front of her. Finn and his mother watched Rachel from where they were standing._

"_Hello, Mr. Hudson." She began, looking at nothing else but the urn that sat in front of her. "My name is Rachel Berry, sir. And I'm dating your son." She smiled at her own words, and looked at Finn. He returned her smile as she continued, looking back at the urn. "Now, you may think that it's silly of me to be doing this, but I don't. I know that Finn doesn't really talk about you, because he misses you, and it hurts too much. But I also know how much he loves you, and how much he wants to make you proud. And I want to tell you something, Mr. Hudson. If you were still here, your son would have made you very proud." She said, her eyes still in front of her. "He has been the most supportive person for me, he even took care of me when I had food poisoning." She blushed to herself at the memory. "And I just wanted you to know, that I love him, very much, more than I've ever loved anybody, sir. And I hope that you approve of us, because I know that that would mean the world to me. And that I will be here for him, for the rest of my life, if he'd let me." She stood up, grabbing the urn from the table, bringing it back to the fireplace, placing it on the mantle where it previously stood. "It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Hudson." She whispered, turning back to Finn and Carole._

_Carole who had been crying, walked over to Rachel and gave her a huge hug. "Rachel…" she said, tears sliding down her cheek. As their hug broke, Finn grabbed her, pulling her in for a hug as well. _

"_I love you, so much Rachel, never forget that." He said, as she wiped a stray tear from his cheek with her thumb._

"_I love you too." She smiled._

"_Well, I'm going to go put dinner on, Finny, do you wanna finish the tour?" Carole asked, still dabbing her eyes with her sleeve._

"_Actually, Carole, I would love to cook with you." Rachel smiled, walking in the direction of the kitchen._

"_Well that would be lovely, Rachel." Carole smiled. When she knew Rachel was out of hearing distance, she walked to her son. "Do not let this one go, Finny. She is a keeper." She said, grabbing Finn's face and kissing him on the cheek. He knew that his mom would love Rachel._

"You are very welcome, Rachel, though I do have to admit, without you checking on it, I probably would have burned the whole thing." Carole said, unable to keep her eyes off of Rachel and Finn holding hands on top of the table. Finn had told Rachel that he had never brought home a girl before, and when he told Carole he was bringing Rachel home, needless to say she was more then excited. Rachel shared in her excitement, feeling as though she had finally found a mother figure in Carole.

"So Finn, are you ready to go Christmas tree shopping with Rachel?" She said as she took a sip of her apple cider.

"What?" Finn asked. "We always go together, I thought we could just bring Rachel with us and make it be something for the three of us."

"I noticed that you still didn't have a tree, Carole." Rachel said curiously. "I thought that the tree at your house was his favorite thing about Christmas." She smiled remembering how Finn's eyes lit up when the talked about Christmas at the Hudson household on the plane ride to Ohio.

"Oh, it is," Carole smiled. "I always wait until Finn comes home from New York to get our tree so that he and I can decorate it together and sing carols."

"That's so sweet!" Rachel gushed as she squeezed Finn's hand. "But Carole, I could never intrude on you and Finn's tradition. It's important to spend time with your family on the holidays."

"Don't be silly Rachel, you already feel like part of the family to me!" Carole said, and Rachel blushed. Carole made her way from the dining room to the kitchen. "Besides, Finn will be spending a lot of time working on my list."

Finn groaned beside her as Rachel looked at Carole in confusion.

"Every year, I compile a list of things for Finny to do for me when he comes home for Christmas." Carole smirked at her son, who rolled his eyes.

"That's so sweet Finn!" Rachel gazed at her boyfriend. "Now I know what to do when I get home." She sent a wink in Carole's direction, who giggled.

"What she's not telling you is that this list consists of things that don't even really need to be done. One time, she made me change the molding in the hallway because she didn't really like the color of it." Both Rachel and Carole laughed, but Finn looked serious.

"Now Finny, do not tell Rachel that the things you do are pointless, you love doing them." Carole said, shaking her pointer finger in his direction.

"I love doing them so I can get food after. I wouldn't do it for free." He chuckled.

"Oh, you." She turned to Rachel, so how about you two go get the tree tomorrow night?" Carole smiled. "You guys probably wanna go get some sleep tonight, long flight and everything."

"Sure," Finn said. "But I'll probably have to run to the store for some things that you're gonna have me do this week." Finn said, tolling his eyes.

"Well, then if you're taking your truck out, I'll drive Rachel to the lot, and then you two can drive the tree home, and we'll set it all up." Rachel nodded at Carole.

"That makes sense. Then Carole and I can get in some girl time before I meet you." Rachel said, smiling widely.

"Okay, then you guys can have your girl time." Finn said standing up, bringing some of the dishes from the table into the kitchen. "Just," Finn sighed. "Promise me mom, no baby pictures." Finn grimaced as he kissed his mother's cheek. When Carole knew Finn had left the room, Carole turned to Rachel.

"Oh, you are seeing every baby picture that I have of him." She giggled, and Rachel smiled brightly. Oh yes, Carole was the mother that she had never had.

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><p><strong>I know, terribly short, and I'm sorry, I threw my back out and it hurts to type, so you guys might not get another one til I'm fully healed, but I hope this one satisfied you, like a Snicker's bar. (cause you know, Snicker's satisfies hunger? xD)<br>So, as always, Taylor Swift's lyrics are what the title is. "Ours" is the song this time.  
>My lovely beta Finchelislove is lovely. :)<br>And review, comment, suggest, whatever you want, it's you who reads this story, so it's you who gets to comment! **


	13. you're not sorry

**There is like no excuse for me to have waited like a whole month to update. School has been a big factor in it, as well as some personal things that I have been going through. I would like to thank anyone who has this story subscribed that reads this and has been waiting this long for me to update. This chapter was hard for me to write, and so maybe since I'm done writing it, the next few will come easier, considering these are the ones I've had planned from the start. I really hope you're enjoying this as much as I enjoy writing it. I can't promise an update this week, but I can promise one soon! You guys are what keeps me going with this, so I hope you like it! :)**

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><p>10:28 AM<p>

Finn was amazed at how fast Rachel had bonded with his mother in the one night that they had been there. After dinner, the two had spent all night on the couch looking at baby pictures and talking about Finn as a child. Finn felt particularly embarrassed when a certain picture of him in nothing but a Power Ranger helmet surfaced. He got over it however when Rachel leaned over and kissed his cheek.

The next morning, Finn woke up to find himself in an empty bed. Confused as to where Rachel could have gone, Finn searched the upstairs looking for the tiny brunette. He wasn't surprised at all when he found her in the kitchen cooking breakfast with his mother, a "Kiss the Cook" apron tied around her tiny frame. He couldn't help but smile when he saw him and his mother together. Finn cleared his throat and alerted them both to his presence. "Oh! Good morning Finny!" Rachel smiled. With a pancake covered whisk in her hand, she scurried over to give Finn a kiss on the lips.

"Hi, baby. So do you wanna know what I asked Santa for this Christmas?" Finn asked, holding her in his arms. He quickly let go however, when he smelled burning. "Ooops! The pancakes!" Rachel said, walking back over to the stove to flip them over.

"What's for breakfast?" Finn asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table. He knew that pancakes were being made, but knowing Rachel AND his mother, there were bound to be more than one option. Finn smiled when his mother put a plate of both waffles and French toast in front of him, with a knowing look.

"Did you really think that there was only going to be pancakes this morning? Or is your stomach prepared to take on everything we're making?" Carole joked. Finn loved that his mother always knew what he was thinking, especially about food.

"Nah," Finn said, piling everything he could onto his plate. "I knew that there was gonna be stuff for me to eat…"

"So what are your plans today?" Carole asked, looking right at Finn. He knew what that look meant.

"I'm gonna do your list, ma!" He said, sarcastically. He knew that he had to get it done before he left, and he was planning on it, but he really wanted to show Rachel around Lima. Before he had a chance to even ask, Carole spoke.

"Good, now Rachel, I am going to take you shopping today!" She said, tapping Rachel's nose with her finger. "Finny said that you love going to thrift stores, and I know the perfect one right in town that you can get some stuff from." Finn smiled when Rachel looked at her. He knew that the only reason Rachel went to thrift stores was because she couldn't really afford anything new, but hopefully with her new job, she would be able to.

"That's right! It's kinda been hard these days after losing my job, so I've been going to thrift stores to save some money." Rachel said, looking at the ground, Finn knew that she was embarrassed about her financial situation, and Carole just looked at her sympathetically.

"I heard you had a tough time lately, Rachel. But it'll get better, those people in that theatre didn't even know talent!" Carole said, hoping to put a smile on Rachel's face.

"But, you've never even heard me sing!" Rachel said, blushing at Carole's comment.

"Oh, I don't need to, Finny said that when you sing it's like angels, and I don't think that I have ever heard him talk like that before." His mother looked at him smiling. "If he says that you're that talented, then I know for a fact that you are." Carole said, matter of factly.

"Well, did Finn tell you that I got a job?" Rachel said, unable to contain her smile. "Well at least, almost! There was this Broadway agent in the bar when Blaine proposed to Kurt, and he said that he wanted to get me on _Broadway!_" Rachel nearly screamed the last word, as she had many times. Carole smiled, grabbing Rachel into a tight hug.

"Honey, that is amazing!" She said, as tears started coming to her eyes. Finn just looked on at this embrace, he was more than ecstatic that in under twenty four hours, his girlfriend could make such an impact on his mom that she cried about Rachel maybe being on Broadway.

"Thank you, Carole." Rachel said, getting teary eyed herself. "This is a dream come true for me. Thank you for thinking that I could do it, even when you haven't even heard me sing." Carole just smiled, letting go of Rachel. "If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go clean my face off." Rachel said, making her way to the bathroom. Once she was gone, Carole turned to her son.

"You need to not let this one get away Finn." She said, a serious look plastered on her face. "She is the most wonderful girl I have ever met, and you deserve to be happy, especially with her."

"I know, Mom. I love her, and I wanna be with her, I'm not letting her get away." Finn said, he knew that he was going to have to tell Rachel the truth sooner or later, but he knew being miles away from their home was not the time to do it, or without having Quinn or Kurt there to help him explain everything.

"You better not." Carole warned. "I think that I love her more than any of the girls you brought home… times ten." She said, shoveling more food onto Finn's plate.

"I promise you Mom, I will not let Rachel get away." He meant that with his heart and soul.

2:46 PM

"So, I'm gonna take you to the tree lot now." Carole said, opening the door to Finn's truck. Rachel had had such a great time shopping with Carole. It really felt as if Carole was already her mother in law, and they had only known each other for a day. "It's like five minutes away, I'll just let Finny know we're going there now." She said, pulling out her phone, texting Finn.

"Are you sure you don't wanna come?" Rachel said buckling herself in. "I mean, it is your tradition with Finn, I don't ever wanna impose on you guys…"

"Nonsense, Rachel. Besides, I highly doubt that this is the last Christmas I will ever see you, so we'll have plenty of times to go shopping for a tree together." Carole smiled, and Rachel instantly felt better about the whole thing.

"Okay. I'm excited! I've never gone tree shopping before! My dad's thought it would be pointless to get a tree when we don't even celebrate Christmas.." Rachel pouted, as Carole started the truck. Her phone beeped indicating a new text message.

"Well Finn is already on his way there. He just finished picking up things for around the house. And don't worry, you can get five trees and Finny wouldn't care, he absolutely loves Christmas." She smiled, pulling out of the parking lot and into the street.

"Well, I'm glad, and I know that he likes Hanukkah, or at least what he's seen of it. I think he gets a kick out of me reading the Hebrew prayers. He says it's weird hearing me speak in a different language." Rachel smiled.

"I'm not surprised." Carole laughed. "It's the simple things in life that make him smile."

"Don't I know it!" Rachel laughed. "He was excited when I gave him a Spiderman keychain I found laying around my room. He couldn't stop smiling for hours."

"That's my Finny!" Carole said, turning down a road. She pointed ahead of her. That's where it is, you'll smell it before you see it. Just as Carole said that, Rachel got the smell of pine and tree sap in her nose. Though it was strong, Rachel liked it, it was something that made Finn happy, so it made her happy as well. "I don't see Finny yet, so I'll just park and wait here for him."

"Thank you for having me here, Carole." Rachel said, looking out the window at the kids running through the tree lot, excited to be there, picking out their tree. "It really means a lot to me, especially since I never really had a mom. You're like the mom that I wish I had." She smiled.

"And you're like the daughter I never had." Carole said, reaching over to Rachel, pulling her into a hug. "I'm so glad that Noah made Finny go up to you in that club." Carole said, pulling away from Rachel.

Rachel froze at her words. "What?" Rachel asked, with a bad feeling in her stomach.

"You know Noah! He's been Finn's best friend since high school, and he told Finny to go over to you in the club that night, because Finny wouldn't make the move." Carole explained. Rachel felt her stomach drop at Carole's words.

"Oh… yeah… yeah…" Rachel managed to spit out. _What the hell is Carole talking about?_ Rachel thought, and then it clicked to her, what Noah had said the night they all went out to dinner. _"You know, Finn said that to every girl he was with when he was in high school." _Noah's words repeated over and over in her head, and she felt like she was going to throw up. Finn lied to her? He had known Noah the whole time? What else did he lie about?  
>"Well, there's Finny!" Carole said, pulling Rachel out of her thoughts. She pointed as Finn pulled up in another truck, bags of supplies strapped into the bed. Rachel felt sick to her stomach as she said goodbye to Carole and made her way to Finn's side. Finn smiled instantly as Rachel approached, and she tried her hardest to put on a happy face, just until Carole drove away.<p>

Finn took her hand, and led her through the gate of the lot, smiling. She could tell he was really excited, but her excitement had disappeared completely. "Welcome to the Lima Tree lot! Go ahead and look around, and pick your tree, and when you found one you like, you can go ahead and bring it up, and we'll tie it to your car for you!" A small girl said. Rachel noted that her name was Sydney.

"Thank you, Sydney." She said, barely able to put on a smile. As they walked the lot, Finn explained the "proper" way to pick a tree, with Rachel following him behind, unable to listen to a word that he was saying. She was so hurt and upset at what he had done.

"Are you okay, Rach?" Finn finally asked as they approached the Douglas Firs. He had just explained why he thought that regular Pine trees smelled better to him, when he realized Rachel had stopped dead in her tracks.

"No, I'm not Finn." She said coldly, not even wanting to look him in the eye.

"Hey, what's wrong baby?" Finn asked, walking over to her, cupping her face in his hands. As he did, she pulled away. "Hey, why'd you do that?"

"Why don't you just ask Noah?" She snapped.

"Why would I ask Puck why you're upset? He's your friend." Finn lied.

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure he's been your friend since high school." Rachel said, tears forming in her eyes. Finn felt a lump form in his throat.

"What?" Finn asked. "Me and Puck met when you…" Rachel cut him off mid sentence,

"Oh really, is that right? So when your mother told me that you've known each other since high school, and he made you come over to me in the bar that was a lie?" She asked, tears threatening to pour over, as she felt her lip quiver.

"Rach…" Finn sighed.

"So you lied?" Rachel asked. "All this time, you lied to me. You've known Puck basically your whole life, he made you come over me that night, what did he make you help walk Kurt home? Did he make you kiss me? Did he make you tell me you love me…?" She choked out, scared to hear the answer.

"No! Rachel! No! I mean, yes, I have known him since high school, and yeah, he did kinda make me come over to you, and I guess technically that's the reason I helped you walk Kurt home…" he said, as Rachel stepped back from him, shaking her head. "But, he didn't make me do anything else!" He swore.

"I don't believe you, Finn." Rachel cried, backing further away from him. "I don't know what to believe anymore. Do you even love me…?" She asked, tears streaming down her face.

"Rachel, how could you even ask me that…?" Finn asked, choking back tears of his own. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, I would never lie to you about that." He said, walking towards her.

"I wish I could believe you, Finn, but I don't" she said, stepping backwards again, her hands wrapped around her stomach.

"Why? Why Rachel, why won't you believe me?" He looked at her, heartbroken, not able to believe this was really happening. When he got no response from her, he tried again. "Last year, I asked Santa for the girl of my dreams, the one that would take my breath away every time I saw her, and that she would love me just as much as I love her. And he did that, he gave me you." Finn said, wanting nothing more than to hold her and stop her from crying.

"Well, maybe you can ask Santa for me again next year, Finn, because I'm breaking up with you." Rachel choked out. Finn couldn't believe what he was hearing, what had just happened. Not even five hours ago, his life was perfect, and now it was all falling apart in front of him.

"Rachel!" Finn called after her, praying to god, or whoever else was out there that she would just turn around and run back to him, but she didn't. And he didn't think that she would ever again.

5:05 PM

Finn made his way back to his mothers house, hoping with everything that he had that Rachel would be there, waiting for him, wanting to make up with him. As soon as he parked the truck, he ran inside. "Rachel?" He called as he opened the door. Not hearing a response, he made his way further into the house wanting more than anything to see his beautiful girlfriend sitting at the table with his mom. But when he saw his mom, sitting at the table in the kitchen, with a plate full of homemade cookies, he knew Rachel was long gone.

"Finny…." Carole started. "I made some cookies." She said, pushing the plate closer, as her son made his way to the table.

"I screwed up, Ma…" Finn choked out, tears falling freely from his eyes. Carole got up from her seat and made her way to her son, wrapping her arms around him as he cried.

"I know, Finny, I know." She soothed, rubbing his back with her hand.

"I knew she would be upset, but I didn't think she would leave." He said. "I thought we would get through this… Mom, where is she?" He asked, looking at his mother with a tear stained face.

"Oh, Finny… She went back to New York." She said quietly. "She explained everything and apologized for leaving so early, but she couldn't be here…" Carole said, wiping Finn's tears away with her thumb. "Oh baby, it'll be okay." She said, wanting nothing more than to take her son's heartache away.

"I love her, Mom. I love her so much…" he said, reaching into his pocket to pull out a box. His mother gasped when she saw it. "I was gonna… today at the lot, because it would have been perfect." He sniffled.

"It would have been." Carole agreed, holding her son. "It would have been perfect."

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><p><strong>So, yeah that's why it was hard for me to write!<br>****No lyrics this time, except for the title, as always, Taylor Swift is credited.  
><strong>**I hope you enjoyed it, even though it sucks that they broke up, and the way they broke up is even worse.  
><strong>**A thanks to my lovely beta/friend Finchelislove, go go go go go read her, she owns my heart.  
><strong>**As always, I love you all, Finchel Forever and Ever.  
>Review, Like, Subscribe, whatever floats your boat! <strong>


	14. to you everything's funny

**Well, I actually am proud of myself and got this chapter done a lot faster then I thought that I would. I'm ****particularly happy with this chapter, because it sets up a lot of things for the rest of the story. Hopefully updates will be a lot faster because I'm currently on Spring Break, so you might get another one out of me before school starts back up again. I just want to thank you all for sticking with this story and liking it because it truly means a lot to me! :) So without further ado, Chapter Fourteen.**

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><p><em>Rachel didn't know what to do as she walked the unknown streets of Lima. She didn't really know where she was going, or what she was going to do, but she knew she had to leave. She couldn't believe that Finn had lied to her. That he had known Noah all along, and that he only came up to her in the club last night because Noah wanted to get it in. How could he? How could he lie to her, did he even want to be with her? Was it all just pretend? She wiped her tear stained face with her sleeve, wanting nothing more than Finn to hold her and comfort her… but no. Finn was the reason she was like this in the first place, there would be no more of him.<em>

_ Luckily, Rachel had Carole's phone number in her cell. She had given it to her the first time they spoke, when her and Finn had just started dating. She and Carole hit it off one day when she called Finn's apartment looking for him. He was at work, but Rachel was there cooking dinner, so she answered. Two hours later, Rachel received Carole's number, with a "Call me whenever you want to talk, Rachel. It's nice to have such a lovely girl to talk to." Finn had loved that they hit it off so well. She shook her head, trying to clear all thoughts of Finn and dialed Carole's number. "Carole," she sniffed, "I was wondering if you could pick me up…"_

_ Carole was there in an instant. Rachel could tell that she was concerned, but she knew well enough not to ask where Finn was. Rachel assumed her motherly instincts were on hyperdrive. "Are you alright, Sweetie?" Carole asked as they pulled away from the curb. Rachel didn't really know where she was going. It was cold, and unfamiliar in Lima, so she just headed in a direction she thought was best. She had ended up ironically enough in a pet store. As she looked at the fish, her thoughts immediately went to Finn, and how he loved that she wanted to be a mermaid. Tears rose to her eyes again as she pulled out her phone. _

_ "No, I'm gonna go home. I don't really think I should be here anymore." Rachel cried, leaning her head on the window. _

_ "Rachel, honey, what did Finn do?" Rachel couldn't help but to smile at Carole's words. It was funny how she automatically assumed that it was indeed Finn's fault._

_ She wasn't exactly sure if she should be telling Carole all of this, but at this point, maybe she could get some insight about what really happened, and why Finn lied to her in the first place. "Finn… Finn…" Rachel sobbed, trying to say anything to tell Carole, but instead, a new set of sobs rose in her chest, preventing her from saying anything._

_ "Shh, Rachel, it's okay, it's okay." Carole consoled, rubbing Rachel's arm gently as she drove._

_ They arrived back at Carole's house in about ten minutes with Rachel still crying. Carole went around to Rachel's door and led her to the house, soothing her as they walked up the driveway. When they were inside, Carole sat Rachel on the couch trying to make sense of some of the noises that had been coming from Rachel's throat. By that time, thankfully, Rachel had calmed down a bit, so Carole took this as her opportunity to investigate what had happened. "Now Rachel," she breathed, sitting on the couch next to a teary eyed Rachel, grabbing her hand. "What happened?"_

_ Rachel took a deep breath before she began. "When me and Finn met, we met in a nightclub." Rachel swallowed. "He came up to me out of no where and helped me bring a drunken Kurt home from the bar. But before that, I went to go find Quinn, who's my other best friend, to tell her I was leaving." Carole nodded her head as Rachel spoke. "When I found her, she was… indisposed with this vile guy, a guy that I later learned name was Puck." Carole's eyes widened._

_ "Don't tell me that Finn lied about knowing Noah this whole time to you." Rachel nodded sadly at Carole's words and started to tear again._

_ "As far as I know, Finn could be lying about other things. I mean, he said… Never mind. But that was a big lie… I know that I shouldn't be this upset over that, but.." _

_ "Rachel, you listen to me. My Finny has only been in love one other time in his life, and that love was nothing compared to the love I see he has for you." Carole said, wiping away one of Rachel's stray tears. _

_ "I don't know about that Carole, I just don't. That's why I have to leave here, I need time. Not just because he lied, because I need to know that he didn't lie to me about anything else." Rachel rose from her seat as she spoke, walking towards the stairs. "I'm sorry Carole, I'm sorry that I'm ruining your Christmas."_

_ "You didn't Rachel, just, before you leave, just…" Carole sighed. "Come back, I know that Finny will be lost without you." Rachel nodded as she headed up the stairs to pack, not being able to think about Finn any longer._

New York City, Rachel's Apartment:

A strange buzzing noise woke Rachel up from her sleep. She didn't know what it could possibly be, seeing Finn didn't have any alarm clocks in his house. She remembered him specifically saying that he doesn't rely on anything that is plugged into the wall to tell him to get up. Instead, he uses his phone. _"Rachel, what happens if there's a blackout and the clock doesn't go off? Then I'm gonna be late and in a lot of trouble, just like you're gonna be in if you don't stop that incessant buzzing" _She remembered him saying one morning when her clock woke them both up. She frowned when she realized that she wasn't at Finn's anymore, and the noise she was hearing was actually an alarm clock. Her alarm clock. Because she was home. And not with Finn. Tears sprang into her eyes as she remembered the events of the prior day. She couldn't believe what had happened with Finn.

She heard a knock on her door, and a familiar voice from behind it. "Rachel? Are you home already?" Quinn asked, opening the door a crack. "You're not naked are you? Because Kurt said that you and Finn don't usually get dressed after…" Quinn stopped mid sentence as she saw her best friend in tears. "Rachel? What happened? Where's Finn?" she questioned.

"He's not here. You should know why, Quinn." Rachel cried, putting her head in her hands.

"What? Rachel, why would I know?"

"Because you're a liar Quinn, that's why. You lied to me." Rachel said angrily, facing away from her friend.

"What? What are you talking about? Where is Finn?" Quinn asked sitting next to Rachel on the bed.

"As if you don't already know? I mean, you're so cozy with his best friend since _high school _I'm sure he knows all about it!" Quinn's eyes widened at Rachel's words.

"Finn told you?" Quinn gulped.

"No, actually, he didn't tell me, his mother told me. She told me about how glad she was that Puck sent him over to me at the nightclub that night. You know, the night that you were making out with Puck against a wall…?"

"Rachel, you don't honestly believe that he was only with you because we brought him there to meet you did you?"

"What?" Rachel gasped. "You planned it?"

"Uh, yeah." Quinn smiled. "What?" She asked at a frowning Rachel.

"So you forced him to come there…?"

"Rachel…" Quinn started.

"No, no, you don't get to speak to me Quinn, you lied to me. You already knew Finn. What did you do? Send him over to me like all the other guys that night? Did you tell him to help me walk Kurt home? Tell him to hang out with me out of pity? Because I was moping around all day? Did you tell him to make me fall in love with him too? To play me like I didn't mean anything?" Rachel was sobbing as she spoke grasping onto the edge of the bed for balance. "Did you?"

Quinn pulled a shaking Rachel into her arms. "No Rachel, he did that on his own. Do you really believe that he lied to you about all of that? So what if I knew him longer, or that we sent him over to you? _You're _the reason he stayed, not me or Puck. Granted, we did have to get him to call you." Rachel stiffened. "No, it was only because he was so nervous and he liked you a lot."

"He lied to me." Rachel sniffled into Quinn's chest. "He lied."

"He lied about knowing Puck, because we asked him to. Rachel," Quinn sighed. "Puck and I have been dating for a while, he's the guy that I was always out with, and the guy that I always spent the night with. I just didn't want to tell you because you were having such a hard time with you losing your job." She heard Rachel sniffle again, her sobs slowing down. "He lied because he was being a good friend to me and Puck. He was going to tell you, but you guys were already together for so long and it was just gonna get worse when you found out that he thought it would be better to just leave it alone."

"But how do I know that was the only thing he was lying about? How do I know?"

"Rachel, have you seen the way that boy looks at you?" Rachel shook her head. "He loves you so much Rachel. I know it, Kurt knows it, even Puck, his best friend since _high school _knows it. Puck said he has never Finn happier then when he's with you."

Rachel sat up from Quinn's grasp. "I just…"

"Rachel Barbara Berry. Listen to me, and listen good. This boy is the best thing that has ever happened to you, and you know it. He loves you more than anything in the entire world. And I know you're scared, I see it in you right now, and every single day before this. But Finn is different, and he is not going to hurt you at all." Rachel glared at her. "Okay, fine he lied. But that doesn't mean you break up with him for it. He made a mistake, we all make mistakes Rachel, do you love him? Truly and whole heartedly?"

Rachel nodded at Quinn's words, not able to say anything fearing the tears might start again if she did. "Then call him. Right now, because he needs to hear that from you. He could have lied about a lot of things Rachel, but him loving you, that's not something he lied about." Quinn said, handing Rachel her cellphone. "Call him, now."

New York City, Finn's office:

Finn spun around mindlessly on the chair in his office. He decided to come home early after Rachel left, hoping maybe she would be home and she would forgive her. Except, he hadn't exactly gotten the courage to actually go to her apartment yet. So instead, Finn went to his office. It was empty except for the few people who wanted to extra holiday pay, which was the perfect place for a brokenhearted Finn to be, somewhere with little to no people.

He kept replaying the events of the tree lot in his head. The look of hurt and disappointment that flashed across Rachel's eyes as he told her the truth, the pain in his hearts as Rachel said she was breaking up with him. How heavy the engagement ring felt in his pocket as she walked away from him, tears in her eyes. He didn't want that to happen the way he did. In fact, he didn't want any of that to happen at all, but it did, and he knew he needed to fix it.

A knock on his door broke him from his thoughts. "Hey, boss" said Santana Lopez. "What are you doing here on Christmas? You're usually with you're mom."

"Uh, long story." Finn sighed, scratching the back of his head. "Figured since I'm back maybe I can get some work done before the New Year, you know?"

"Well, do you need any help? I might as well do work for my boss instead of being someone else's bitch." Santana smiled.

"Actually, yeah, that would be good." Finn said, grabbing some papers from his desk. "Here," he held some of them out for her. "Can you make copies of these for me? I need to send them out overnight so they get there by the third."

"Righty-O, boss." She said, taking the papers from him. "If you wanna talk about what happened, I'm here, you know that. Even though I'm technically your secretary, I like to consider myself your friend."

"Thanks, well, make the copies and we'll see what happens when you come back."

"Okay, be right back." She said, and Finn could swear she added an extra sway to her hips as she walked out of his office.

A dozen forms filled out, and forty copies later, Santana was completely filled in on the details of what happened on Finn's winter break and basically every day before then. "Wow." She said, leaning back in her chair. "She seems like a real drama queen if she's overreacting that much to a stupid little lie." Finn rolled his eyes.

"I don't think it's just that. He ex was a big jerk and screwed her up big time, my guess is that now she thinks I lied about more then that. And knowing Rachel, unless someone really convinces her otherwise, I don't think she'll ever believe me." Finn said sadly.

"Well, you know," Santana said, standing from her chair "The best way to get over someone, is to get under someone else." She leaned over Finn's desk, her cleavage right at Finn's eye level. "And you know, I like to help my friends."

"Um, Santana" Finn said, rolling his chair back slightly. "I don't really think that's professional… I mean, I'm your boss. And I don't wanna get over Rachel, I wanna be with her. Forever. That's why I was gonna propose to her… remember? I told you about that like an hour ago."

"So what? The little hobbit doesn't need to know about it." Santana smirked, placing one of her well manicured hands on Finn's face. "It can be our little secret." She whispered her face inches from his, lips puckered.

"No Santana." Finn said, rising from his chair. "We cannot do that. I will not do that. I love Rachel, more than anyone in the world. I already screwed everything up by lying, I'm not gonna make it worse by fucking another chick." He walked around her, heading towards the door. "I'm gonna go get some coffee for us, and you can compose yourself for a few minutes." With that he left the room, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Santana scoffed at the scene that just happened. _Nobody _says no to Santana Lopez. She was going to get Finn Hudson to sleep with her. She has never broken her "I've slept with every boss I've ever had" record, and she didn't intend to break it now. Finn was vulnerable and pathetic, and that was going to make it much easier for her. He was like a wounded Zebra, and she was the lioness going in for the kill._ Ew did I really just compare myself to wild animals? _She thought to herself. _Maybe if I corner him in the break room, I'll have more of a chance to get him to kiss me. And well, once he kisses me, it's over for him. _Santana smirked at her own brilliance.

Just as she turned to leave, she heard something vibrate on Finn's desk. She looked to see Finn's phone. Walking over to it, she noticed Rachel's picture pop up on the screen. A sinister smile crossed the brunette's features as she snatched the phone up and answered it. "Hello, Finn Hudson's phone, how can I help you?" Santana asked sweetly. "No, I'm sorry he's in the shower right now, who can I ask is calling?"

New York City, Rachel's Apartment:

Rachel hung up the phone with a scream, startling Quinn and the now awake Kurt. Granted, Quinn had gone and woken him up when she handed the phone to Rachel, wanting him to hear this just as much as she did. New tears sprung from her eyes as she looked at her two best friends.

"Rachel?" Kurt asked, his voice full of concern. "What just happened?"

Rachel shook her head repeatedly. "A girl answered his phone." She sobbed, falling back onto her pillow, tears rolling down her cheeks. "His new girlfriend."

"What?" Quinn and Kurt screeched at the same time.

"Yup, some sleazy sounding girl said he was in the shower, and she called him Finny. That's my nickname for him, mine. How does he have a new girlfriend already?" She cried, grasping her pillow tightly. "I thought he loved me."

"Shhh, Rachel, it's okay." Kurt said lying next to her. "It's all going to be okay."

"_What?" _Kurt mouthed to Quinn, who just shrugged her shoulders and returned with an _"I have no idea." _

"Rachel, I'm gonna go call Puck and see what happened, okay?" Quinn said, squeezing Rachel's leg before she left the room.

She quickly dialed Puck's number on her phone and waited until he answered. "Hey babe, it's me. Listen, we need to talk."

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><p><strong>Credits to Taylor Swift for her lyrics from "Never Grow Up"<br>Glee is not mine, and has never been, but it FINALLY comes back Tuesday!3  
><strong>**As always, to my love Finchelislove for helping me whenever I need it.  
>To everyone who reads this, thank you.<br>Rate/review/hate/subscribe, whatever you wanna do! **


	15. wondering if you knew

**Well, good golly gosh, you guys got two updates out of me in four days! This chapter basically has been in my head since the beginning and it has personally been my favorite to write out of them all. I did have a bit of problem figuring out how to format it. Rachel just demanded that she sing in this chapter, and I couldn't help but to agree to let her do it. So, here's chapter fifteen, I really hope you enjoy it, there's some special stuff in it towards the end there.**_  
><em>

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><p><em>Two Months Later:<em>

"I'm so excited!" Rachel exclaimed, blowing up another balloon. "This is going to be the best engagement party ever!"

Quinn smiled. "I know, especially because the best bridesmaids ever planned it." She winked. "I just can't believe that they're engaged! But wasn't the night that they got engaged technically an engagement party…?" Quinn tilted her head in question.

"Actually, that was not an engagement party, it was a party I just so happened to become engaged at. And if you ladies are done squealing about _my _engagement, I would like to finish this work so I can go get ready." Kurt scolded, hanging streamers from the ceiling.

"You know, you don't even have to be here, Kurt. You just didn't trust us to get the decorating done by ourselves." Rachel said, shaking her head.

"Whatever." Kurt scoffed, stepping down from the ladder he was on. "I just wanted to make sure everything was perfect. You know, I'm only planning on being engaged once. I don't need Blaine to be a runaway groom because the decorations were set up badly." Both Rachel and Quinn stuck their tongues out at his words.

"Alright, Mr. Diva. You go get ready and Quinn and I will finish blowing up the balloons and hanging the streamers. We promise we will not mess this up."  
>Kurt raised his eyebrow. "Alright, but I <em>swear <em>if it looks horrible, I will kill you." Kurt threatened, collecting his things. "I'll be back in like two hours, try not to ruin everything." He said, sashaying his way to the door.

"Geez, what's up his ass today?" Quinn smiled, taking over balloon duty so Rachel could hang the streamers.

"He's just nervous, even though he refuses to admit it." She said, climbing the ladder. "He'll be back to his regular diva status when the party starts."

"True." Quinn said. "So, have you talked to Finn? You know he's gonna be here tonight."

Rachel scoffed. "Yeah, he's probably going to bring his stupid new girlfriend with him."

"Rachel, I told you, Puck said he doesn't think Finn did anything with Santana." Quinn said, inhaling the helium from the balloon she was holding. "He loves you, you're just being stubborn." Rachel laughed as Quinn's voice came out much higher than it was supposed to be.

"Quinn, he came home right after me, and didn't come see me. Doesn't that seem a little suspicious to you?" Rachel asked.

"Maybe he was just nervous? Puck asked Finn about it and Finn said he had know idea what Puck was even talking about."

"I don't care. If he loved me like he said he did, he would have fought for me, that's all I wanted." Quinn rolled her eyes at Rachel.

"You know this isn't One Tree Hill, Rachel. You're not Brooke, and he's not Lucas. And if you were, you'll show up naked in the back of his car." She smirked.

"In case you've forgotten, Lucas ends up with Peyton and not Brooke." Rachel grimaced. "Which really pisses me off because Brooke was obviously the best choice for him, Peyton just has chicken legs."

"All I'm saying is that I think he just doesn't know how to approach you after you walked out on him."

"After he lied to me!" Rachel defended, climbing down from the ladder. "He lied for months to me. And yes, maybe it was wrong of me to leave without letting himself fully explain the situation, but you know what, he didn't have to sleep with his fucking assistant!" Rachel threw down the streamers in her hand and stormed out of the room.

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><p>"Well, well, I give you girls credit." Kurt smiled, admiring the work his friends did while he was gone. "This place actually looks pretty good. And you even put the karaoke machine in the right place." Rachel and Quinn beamed looking around the room.<p>

They had rented a hall for the party, because Kurt would have nothing but the best for his engagement party. The room was huge, holding twelve tables, which sat ten people each. Each of the chairs around the tables were adorned with purple bows, tied like bow ties, a joke towards Blaine. The centerpieces, made of lilies, made the huge tables seem eloquent and formal, just as Kurt had wanted. Streamers were hanging from the ceiling tastefully, only placed where Kurt had said prior, because otherwise it would look like a "child's birthday party" instead of an engagement party.

The walls were covered in hand painted banners reading "Congratulations Kurt and Blaine" and "Finally Legal" and Rachel's personal favorite "It's About Time". Kurt had wanted to rip it down as soon as Quinn put it up, but they both refused to take it down, knowing how much Blaine would enjoy rubbing it in to Kurt later on that evening. At the foot of the dance floor stood the karaoke machine, a tribute of sorts to the place where Kurt and Blaine got engaged, and well, it was a crowd favorite whenever the trio was together.

"Yeah, I think it looks pretty good." Quinn joked. She turned to Rachel who looked away from her, still angry about before. Rachel knew she had every right to be mad at Quinn. Finn not only lied to her, but possibly slept with his assistant and wouldn't even come see her in the whole time that he had been home since before Christmas.

"Yeah, looks great." Rachel whispered, receiving a weird look from Kurt.

"Ooo-kay then, well now you guys should go get dressed in the dresses that I laid out for you both on your beds when I went home," he said earning eye rolls from his friends. "Oh, don't give me that, you'll be happy with my selections. Now go and get ready, I'll be here putting finishing touches on while the guests start to arrive. I expect both of you to be back here at 7:30 sharp to mingle with the guests and floor them all with your wonderful voices." Kurt said, pushing them towards the door.

Quinn chuckled. "Alright, Mr. Pushy, we'll be back even before then, just like we all know you secretly want."

"Perfect, I knew I hung out with you both for a reason." Kurt smiled. "Now seriously, leave, I can't have two underdressed people at _my _engagement party."

With that, Rachel and Quinn made their way out of the hall, walking in the direction of their apartment. They made it a few blocks before Rachel felt a hand on her arm. "Rachel, I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean to piss you off." Quinn said.

"It's fine, Quinn. I'm just not really ready to see him again, you know? I haven't seen him since Ohio, and it's going to hurt a lot when I do." Rachel gulped. She knew that she was a strong, independent woman, but she also knew seeing Finn without truly knowing what happened between him and Santana was going to hurt like a bitch.

"Well, you have me tonight, Rachel. Puck is going to hang out with Finn all night to distract him from you. If you're sure that's what you want him to do."

"I think it's for the best that I don't talk to him tonight. I don't really want to start anything at Kurt's party, I can just hear the bitching we'll have to endure if anything goes wrong." Rachel smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I guess. Well, we'll just see how the night goes." Quinn said, looping her arm through Rachel's well let's go see what Kurt has planned for our wardrobe this evening.

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><p>Obviously Kurt was trying to kill Rachel. Not only was she in a very skimpy, yet classy, dress, he put her in her least favorite heels, ones which Kurt knew she had a history with. Rachel shook her head trying to clear the memories of her and Finn fooling around; heels still on her feet, out of her mind and onto fixing her hair in the way Kurt had specifically told her to do. A hairstyle which Kurt also knew was Finn's favorite way Rachel wore her hair.<p>

Instead of cursing and scowling, Rachel put on a brave face and made her way into the living room. Quinn sat waiting on the arm of the couch, looking through her bag. When she looked up, she smirked. "Huh, Kurt's _really _trying to get you and Finn to talk, isn't he?" Rachel glared in her direction and grabbed her own purse from the kitchen counter. She then started to take things she needed and transferring them into the smaller bag she was using for the evening.

"You almost ready?" Rachel asked, completely ignoring Quinn's question.

"Yup, let's go watch our baby dance his heart out with his fancy pants of a fiancée!" Quinn squealed, grabbing Rachel's arm, offering her a gentle smile. "Hey, its going to be okay tonight, I promise."

Rachel offered her a small smile in return. "I know, it's just going to be a little," Rachel scratched her forehead. "Difficult."

"Well, I'm here." Quinn said, once again looping her arm through her friend's. "And you can always sing a kick ass 'Fuck you, Finn' song to him on the karaoke machine!" She joked, sticking her tongue out.

"That's actually a good idea." Rachel smiled, grabbing her purse and heading towards the door, glad that she had a friend like Quinn. Maybe this night wouldn't be that bad after all.

For once, Rachel was actually right. The night was easier than she thought. It was already 9:00 and Finn hadn't even showed. She was hoping that maybe, Finn wouldn't show at all.

When Quinn and her arrived back, people had already started showing up, seemingly almost as excited as Rachel and Quinn. They both mingled, as per Kurt's instructions, meeting people from both his and Blaine's family that they hadn't met before. Rachel felt her stomach drop when she saw Puck enter the hall, but felt a sudden sting of disappointment when there was not a lumbering giant next to him. Bouncing back fast, Rachel decided that maybe she should sign up for some karaoke while Quinn was with Puck.

Unfortunately, due to the open bar, there were a lot of signatures above her for karaoke. Rachel, Puck, and Quinn had all sat around watching various drunk relatives sing songs from Journey to The Backstreet Boys to Celine Dion. Giggling the whole time, Rachel had forgotten that she had even signed up, until a _very _tipsy Kurt had went up to the stage to announce her name.

"And now, ladies and gentlemans… I mean, gentleman." Kurt snickered. "I would like you to introduce to you my bestest friend in the whooooollleee wide world, future Broadway star, Ms. Rachel Berry!" Kurt slurred, swaying slightly as Rachel made her way up to the stage.

She helped Kurt make his way safely around the wires of the machine before she spoke to the crowd of now excited drunk people. Apparently her being a "future Broadway star" made her more interesting to listen to, at least that's what he heard one of Blaine's wasted uncles' whisper to what Rachel could only assume to be his wife. "Hello, my name is Rachel Berry, and I'm going to sing one of my all time favorite songs." The slow guitar music started to play in the background as she started to sing.

Rachel realized what a stupid mistake she had made as she sang the first lines, of the song, immediately having flashbacks to the night she met Finn.

"_There I was again tonight_

_Forcing laughter, faking smiles_

_Same old tired lonely place"_

…she had smiled at every man, and forced laughter at their corny jokes…

"_Walls of insincerity,_

_Shifting eyes and vacancy_

_Vanished when I saw your face_

_All I can say is it was enchanting to meet you"_

…her eyes that were scanning the room frantically to find Quinn were instead focused on the most beautiful man that Rachel had ever laid eyes on…

"_Your eyes whispered "Have we met?"_

…as they locked eyes, the world seemed to fade away around her…

"_Across the room your silhouette_

_Starts to make its way to me"_

…He began making his way through the dance floor towards her, his eyes still locked on hers…

"_The playful conversation starts_

_Counter all your quick remarks_

_Like passing notes in secrecy"_

"But, if you try to kill me, I'll kick your butt. I may be short, but I know how to pack a punch"

"Yeah, okay."

"_And it was enchanting to meet you_

_All I can say is I was enchanted to meet you"_

Rachel felt herself pour her heart and soul into the chorus as she sang, knowing that the words that were coming out of her mouth reminded her of nothing but Finn.

"_This night is sparkling, don't you let it go_

_I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home_

_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew_

_I was enchanted to meet you"_

"_The lingering question kept me up_

_2 AM, who do you love?_

_I wonder 'til I'm wide awake_

_And now I'm pacing back and forth_

_Wishing you were at my door_

_I'd open up and you would say, "Hey,_

_It was enchanting to meet you,_

_All I know is I was enchanted to meet you"_

She felt her heart break all over again as she continued to sing, closing her eyes and not noticing as Finn slipped through to door and made his way over to Quinn and Puck.

"_This night is sparkling, don't you let it go_

_I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home_

_I'll spend forever wondering if you know_

_This night is flawless, don't you let it go_

_I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone_

_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew_

_I was enchanted to meet you_

_This is me praying that_

_This was the very first page_

_Not where the story line ends_

_My thoughts will echo your name_

_Until I see you again_

_These are the words I held back_

_As I was leaving too soon_

_I was enchanted to meet you"_

…"I was enchanted to meet you." He said before turning and walking away…

When she finally opened her eyes, they landed right on the person that she was thinking of. The person that every single word of the song she was currently singing applied to. She sang the bridge, pouring her heart into every note as tears formed in her eyes.

"_Please don't be in love with someone else_

_Please don't have somebody waiting on you_

_Please don't be in love with someone else_

_Please don't have somebody waiting on you"_

She looked away from him, not able to look at him any longer as she sang. She decided to finish the song with as much dignity and poise that she had without breaking down on the stage.

_"This night is sparkling, don't you let it go_

_I'm wonderstruck, blushing all the way home_

_I'll spend forever wondering if you know_

_This night is flawless, don't you let it go_

_I'm wonderstruck, dancing around all alone_

_I'll spend forever wondering if you knew_

_I was enchanted to meet you."_

Looking at him one more time, Rachel finished the song, hoping that he wouldn't see the tears that were in her eyes.

"_Please don't be in love with someone else_

_Please don't have somebody waiting on you"_

Rachel didn't even hear the applause from the party goers as she ran from the room to the bathroom. She checked under the stalls to make sure she was completely alone before she started to cry, letting out all of the emotion that she couldn't show on the stage.

After she was all cried out, Rachel returned to the room, just as Quinn and Finn were talking. Confused, Rachel walked over to Kurt to see if she knew what was going on. "Do you know why they're talking?" Rachel whispered to Kurt, temporarily forgetting that Kurt was very drunk.

"Mayyyybbbeeeee they'reee sleeping togetthherrrr!" Kurt said laughing. Rachel frowned and opened her mouth to say something, but was quickly interrupted by Kurt falling over onto her.

"Are you fucking kidding?" Rachel asked, propping Kurt back up. She heard a laugh behind her and a steady arm reach out to help her.

"We've got to stop meeting like this." Finn said, helping her sit Kurt down in a chair. "Maybe you shouldn't let him drink so much." He smiled.

"Maybe." Rachel said, folding her arms over her chest. "You know I am perfectly capable of holding him up, right? I always have been."

"Yeah, I know, it just always seems to give me an excuse to talk to you." Rachel found herself blushing at his words. "How have you been, Rach?"

"I'm doing just fine, Finn. Thanks for asking."

"Well, Quinn was just telling me that your agent might have a part for you to audition for. That's so amazing Rachel." Finn smiled, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Rachel quickly shrugged out of his gasp, knowing that if she let him touch her, she would never want him to let go. "Yeah, I'm really excited for it, but really nervous."

"Are you kidding, Rach? You're gonna be amazing. You're so much more talented than I remember. You killed it with that song up there, and I know for a fact that you're gonna kill it when you audition." Rachel felt herself start to smile.

"Thanks Finn, that mea…" Rachel started, but was interrupted by the sound of Finn's phone ringing. He quickly pulled it out and looked at the ID.

"I'm so sorry, Rach. I got to take this, it will be one second." Finn frowned and turned around to answer his phone. "Hello?"

All happy thoughts left Rachel's head as she heard Finn utter the name Santana. Rachel walked away from Finn, making sure he didn't see her leave. She couldn't believe how stupid she was for actually believing that maybe Finn wasn't dating someone, and that maybe he still loved her. She looked around for any signs of Quinn or Kurt so she could tell them that she was leaving. Coming up short, she decided that she could just leave and just text them. Kurt was too drunk to notice anyway, so there was no way that he could possibly realize it.

Making sure Finn didn't see, she ran to her table and grabbed her bag, heading towards the door. She didn't care where she was going she just knew she had to leave. And she certainly knew that she had to leave all thoughts of Finn behind as she headed towards their apartment, a long night of _Funny Girl, _vegan ice cream, and bunny slippers in her future.

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><p><strong>What did you think?<br>I was having a really hard time trying to figure out how to make the flashbacks seem like they fit, so I hope I did a good job of that.  
>The whole story was actually based off of the bridge of this song, and how she's looking at him not wanting him to be in love with someone else, and the rest of the story has just been getting them to that point.<br>Credit goes to Taylor Swift for "Enchanted" the song that is sang and the lyrics for the title of the chapter.  
><strong>**Finchelislove = the love of my life.  
>Also, the One Tree Hill thing, is in honor of the finale last night. I had always secretly hoped Brucas would work out, but I love Brulian too! :)<br>Review/Comment/Subscribe whatever you'd like**


	16. i go back to december all the time

**Well here we go again! :) Here's the next chapter. This one includes flashbacks to two important parts of the story that were mentioned in the last chapter. It's a short one, I know, but we're getting to the reunion soon, I promise! And I present to you, chapter 16!**_  
><em>

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><p><em>Finn couldn't believe Santana. She had some fucking nerve coming after him, especially after all that he had just told her. He had even told her how much he cried when Rachel had broken up with him, and how he would do anything to fix it. But now there he was, hiding in the break room of his office, not wanting to go anywhere near Santana.<em>

_ He wished that he would just get the nerve to call or see Rachel. He knew she was obviously home. Where else would she have gone after she left Lima? He just didn't know what to say or do to make things better. Sure, he could run to her door and when she opened it get on one knee and say sappy and sad things and pray she forgave him. But no, Rachel deserved more than a proposal like that. She deserved romance, and cuteness, something she would have gotten at the tree lot._

_ Decided that it was time to go back to his office, Finn grabbed the two coffees he had earlier prepared and made his way back to where trouble waited. When he opened the door, he immediately regretted his decision to return. Lying on his desk was a stark naked Santana, smirking devilishly at him. Finn closed his eyes quickly, "What the fuck are you doing Santana?" He yelled. "I just told you that I want nothing to do with you." He looked at her hoping maybe she would have changed positions, but of course, she didn't. He closed his eyes again and turned around, coffees still in hand._

_ When he didn't hear her speak, he figured she was just collecting her clothes to get dressed. That idea was smashed though as he felt one of her arms wrap around his waist, bringing him close to her. "You can't possibly mean that, Finny." Santana whispered sexily._

_ "Actually Santana, I do. The only person I want anything from is Rachel, and the last time I checked, you're not her." He said attempting to push her arm away, but having a hard time due to the coffees that still occupied his hands. "And don't call me Finny." _

_ "You can't _not _want me. By the looks of it, it seems you do…" Santana said, looking around Finn's torso towards the area below his belt. Finn cursed himself internally for having a penis._

_ "Actually, just my penis wants you, I myself want nothing to do with you." Finn regretted those words as soon as he spoke them. He heard Santana giggle as she grabbed the coffees out of his hands, placing them on the cabinet next to them. She then moved around him towards the door and locked it. _

_ "Then let's give it what it wants, shall we?" Santana said, grasping at his belt buckle. _

_ He quickly slapped her hands out of the way. "No, Santana. I don't care if you have a golden vagina. I do not want you, I do not love you. And I will not sleep with you." He quickly unlocked his door and opened it. He turned around and looked at her before he left. "Oh, and you're fired." He said, before slamming the door behind him. _

Rachel had once again never been more thankful for having such great friends. As soon as Quinn realized that Rachel was missing, she had dragged Puck from the party back to their apartment. The two joined Rachel on the couch as Rachel cried, snuggled with her ice cream and slippers, _Funny Girl _already halfway through on the television. Quinn sat with Rachel's head on her lap, stroking her hair as she cried. "Rachel, honey, what happened?" Quinn soothed, Puck looking on concerned, as he didn't even know what had happened. "When I looked over at you, you were both smiling. I thought things were going good."

Rachel sniffed. "Well that was until Santana called him." Both Quinn and Puck's eyes widened.

"That can't be possible, munchkin; Finn promised me that he didn't have sex with that whore." Puck argued. Rachel frowned at him. "Sorry," he threw his hands back in defense. "Hoe." Rachel had actually grown close to Puck in the last two months. Once he explained his position on the whole ordeal, and how he had actually wanted everyone to tell her the truth, she had met the caring and kind man who actually wasn't a jerk like she thought. He had grown protectiveness over Rachel. Puck had said "Us Jews need to stick together." But Rachel knew it was more than that.

"Yeah, well that wouldn't be the first time that he lied." Rachel rolled her eyes. "Whatever, I'm done with this. I am done with him making me cry and the whole relationship." She gently stroked her tattoo as she spoke. "And I'm really pissed I got this stupid tattoo." She looked at her friend. "Quinn, what am I going to do?"

"Well first of all, you love that tattoo. You said it was the best decision that you've ever made." Quinn answered. "And it looks cute on you too. Now, what you are going to do is get up and take a shower. I am not going to let you sit around and mope about this. You are Rachel Berry, you have an audition for Broadway soon, and you are going to be the biggest and brightest star that there is." Rachel shifted in her seat to look at Quinn as she spoke.

"Yeah, you're right. I don't need Finn." She stood up. "I just need myself, I am going to be a Broadway star dammit!" She smiled brightly as she looked at her friends. "You're right Quinn. I'm so lucky I have a friend like you."

Quinn waited until she heard the shower start and turned to her boyfriend. "I have some information that you might not know about." Quinn whispered. "And it's some pretty good information."

"Why are you whispering?" Puck asked.

"Shhhh!" Quinn scolded, grabbing the back of Puck's neck to get him to lean forward. "Last night while Rachel was in the bathroom, I talked to Finn to find out why the fuck he never called or tried to talk to Rachel in the last two months."

"Really?" Puck said, surprised. "Any time I talked to him he just said he didn't want to talk about it."

"Yeah well that's what he said originally, but I got it out of him."

_ Quinn stood in the middle of the floor looking for the giant that she was looking for. She spotted him over the crowd and rushed towards him. She didn't know how long Rachel was going to be in the bathroom for, but she figured she had at least five minutes. "Finn!" she called over the music. "I need to talk to you." Finn turned and faced her raising one of his eyebrows._

_ "What? You gonna yell at me or something?" he asked sadly._

_ "No, I want to know what the fuck is up with you and why you came home the day after Rachel and you said nothing to her, and have said nothing to her for the past two god damned months."_

_ "I don't want to talk about it." Finn grumbled, taking a sip of the drink in his hand._

_ "You don't want to talk about it?" Quinn scoffed. "Fine, then how about we talk about the emotional wreck that my best friend has been in the last two months over you. How every single day, she thinks that she wasn't good enough for you, or how she couldn't believe that you could possibly ever love a girl like her. She thinks that it is all her fault, Finn." _

_ Finn visibly flinched at her words. "She thinks that?" Finn's arms dropped to his sides. "That's not even it, Quinn…"_

_ "Of course she thinks that, Finn. She left you in Lima, and you came back the day afterwards. She thought that you came home for her, to win her back, to try to make it up for her, and then she finds out you slept with Santana."_

_ Finn eyes widened. "What?" he asked nervously. "Who told you that?"_

_ "Santana answered your phone the night that you got back from Lima. She said that you were in the shower and that you were going to bed after cause you were tired out." Quinn frowned._

_ "She did what?" Finn asked, seeming angrier than Quinn anticipated._

_ "Wait… you didn't know that she answered your phone…?"_

_ "No, I didn't. That night she tried to seduce me in my office…." Finn quickly explained the story to her, sparing no detail. _

_ "Oh. My. God." She said, covering her open mouth with her hands. "So if you didn't sleep with Santana, why didn't you just come to our apartment and see her?" She _

_ "Because after that happened, I didn't know how I was going to face her. Just Santana hitting on me scared me so much that I felt if she found out, she would hate me even more than she did. And it seems like that actually happened without me knowing…" he scratched the back of his neck._

_ "Finn, you are probably the most stupid guy in the world for not going to see her. She thinks that you never loved her, and that you were just with her because we asked you to go over to her that night in the club."_

_ Finn reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue satin covered box. "Do you think I didn't love her?" he asked, holding the box out to Quinn's now open hand. She quickly looked around for Rachel, hoping she didn't see what was happening. Quinn slowly opened the box revealing one of the most beautiful rings Quinn had ever seen in her life. _

_ "Wow." Was the only thing that came out of Quinn's mouth as she stared at the silver band._

_ "It was my mother's." Finn gulped. "It was the one that my dad gave her when they were engaged. We didn't just go to Lima for Christmas." Finn shook his head, taking the box back from Quinn. "We went so my mom could meet her, because she knew I wanted to make Rachel my wife. And when I told her that, she handed me this ring, telling me to make it happened. And I had planned to, at the tree lot, but then…"Finn shrugged, slipping the ring back into his pocket. _

"What?" Puck yelled, earning a hard slap to the back of the head. "He was going to propose to her?" He whispered, not wanting to get hit again.

"Apparently, and now that's fucked up because of Rachel's freaking pride."

"So wait, then, who was on the phone with him when he was talking to Rachel?" Puck asked, rubbing where Quinn had smacked him.

"I don't know, we're going to have to find out. But all I know, is that I am going to help that boy propose to Rachel. She deserves to be happy, and I know that Finn is the one person in the world to make that happen."

"Well babe, I hope you know what you're doing. Hudson can be very stubborn too. He's probably really hurt because she left last night."

"You talked to him, didn't you?" Quinn raised her eyebrow.

"Sorry, bro code…. OW! STOP HITTING ME!" he brought his hand to rub the part of his head that received abuse. "Yes, yes I talked to him, and he's mad that she just walked away without saying anything to him."

"Well, he's going to have to get over that isn't he? Give me your phone." Quinn said, holding her hand out as Puck fished into his pocket for his phone.

"He's probably still at the party." Quinn snorted.

"Please, the only people he knew there were Rachel who left, you and I, who followed a sobbing Rachel, and Kurt, who was too drunk to even function speaking. Ten bucks says he's on his way home, about to mope."

She dialed Finn's number and held the phone to her ear. Grinning when Finn answered, Quinn spoke. "Hey Finn, it's Quinn. I have an idea on how to get Rachel to marry you if you want. But you're going to have to listen to every single thing I say." She smirked as Finn agreed. "Good. Next week she has an audition for _Spring Awakening. _Kurt and I have arranged to throw her a surprise party for after at…" She was interrupted before she could finish her sentence. "Shut up, we do not eat there too much. Now do you want to propose or not?"

Puck smiled as Quinn hung up the phone. "So, am I going to have to rent a tux soon?" Quinn nodded slowly.

"Only if I can help it."

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><p><strong>I know, I know. I hate myself too for cliffhangers, but they make for good chapter endings.<br>****Credit will always belong to Taylor Swift; "Back to December"  
><strong>**I really hope that you guys aren't getting sick of all the Taylor, and if you are, the story is actually almost over anyway!  
><strong>**We're almost there guys, about two more chapters and an epilogue coming your way.**  
><strong>Finchelislove keeps me going. Go go go read her stuff. Like NOW!<br>As always, Review/Comment/Tell me you hate it.  
><strong>**I just like knowing someone is reading this!  
><strong>**OH! And the next chapter is already done, so you don't have to worry about a long update. **


	17. baby just say yes

**Here you go guys, moment of truth. Enjoy!**

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><p>Rachel sat nervously in the lobby of the playhouse, waiting for the casting director to post the cast list on the wall. She knew that she had killed the audition. Everyone else that was there all sounded mediocre compared to her voice. Granted, there had been a few choice competitors, but all of them paled in comparison. Quinn sat beside her, holding her hand, just as nervous as she was.<p>

While most of the girls that auditioned for Wendla sang songs from the musical itself, Rachel had decided to go with the one song she knew that she could nail. She channeled her inner Fanny Brice as she belted "Don't Rain on My Parade", earning a standing ovation from onlookers when she had finished. She waited for praise from the directors, but instead, all she got was a "Thank you." Taken aback, she smiled at them and walked off the stage, returning back to her seat. When the auditions were over, they made their way to the hall, waiting to see what the final cast look would look like.

They both sat there silently, Quinn not knowing what to say, Rachel not really wanting to say anything at all. "Ow, what the fuck?" Quinn whispered as Rachel's hand clamped hers. She looked up to see a man dressed in a grey suit walk towards the bulletin board, a white slip of paper in his hand. Rachel stood from her seat, still crushing Quinn's hand, waiting until the man pinned the piece of paper to the board.

As soon as he walked away, there was a mad rush to the board. All of the other girls that were sitting in the hall with them, just as silent, ran to the board, eager to see if their hard work and dedication had paid off.

Quinn managed to push through the crowd before Rachel, looking at the board before Rachel made it into the small clearing. Rachel looked at Quinn who was just staring at her. Scared out of her mind, Rachel looked at the list. She fingered the paper to where it said "Wendla Bergmann" and slid it across to where the name had been typed, her name. She checked it again, unable to process what had been happened. She felt Quinn's arms wrap around her, squeezing her tightly. Rachel felt tears spring to her eyes as she turned into Quinn's arms squealing. Rachel couldn't believe what was happening. She landed the main female role in a Broadway production. A _real _Broadway play.

She couldn't wipe the smile off of her face as they made there way back through the now thinning crowd of people. Quinn spun her around to face her. "Rachel! I can't believe this! I am so fucking proud of you, you can't even imagine!" She pulled her into another hug. Rachel smiled brightly. "All of your dreams are coming true, Rachel. I'm so glad that I'm the one who you're standing next to." Rachel's smile faded at her words.

Suddenly, a line from One Tree Hill popped into her head. _When all your dreams come true, who do you want standing next to you?_ She instantly let herself think of Finn, something that she had managed to not do for a week. "You okay, Rachel?" Quinn asked.

"Uh, yeah, now the nerves are kicking in!" Rachel smiled, wrapping her arm through Quinn's. "Hey, let's go celebrate or something," she quickly changed the subject. She knew that Quinn was probably annoyed at her for talking about nothing but Finn the past two months. "I'm feeling like some sushi and some singing!"

"Sounds absolutely perfect. Now call that manager of yours and tell him how brilliant he is for getting you that audition!" Quinn clapped, leading the way out the doors. "And after, we'll get Kurt, and go out for a celebration!"

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><p>Kurt had reacted the same way as Quinn when Rachel told him the good news. "I knew it, Ms. Berry. I knew you would be a star, now don't forget little old me when you're famous." He joked, grabbing a huge box from behind the couch.<p>

"I would never forget you, Kurt! And I'm still living here when I'm famous so you have to learn how to live with a diva." She winked.

"Oh please, like you could out diva Kurt." Quinn joked, helping Kurt hold it. "And here, we have a present for you. We got it for tonight, knowing that you would get the part." Rachel popped open the lid and gasped. Her eyes raked over the dress and she grabbed it, pulling it out. "See, every Broadway star should have a gorgeous dress to go out in."

"Guys, this is too much! It's too expensive!" Rachel said, still holding the beautiful nude dress.

"No, this is your present for getting your part, and now you're a Broadway star, you're going to get paid great, think of this as the beginning to a 'who can give the best present' competition." Kurt stuck his tongue out.

"But we're just going for sushi! I feel like I should save this for when we go to the clubs or something." She said, folding the dress back into the bag.

"NO!" they both screamed at once. Rachel's eyes widened as Kurt lunged towards the back.

"First off, Rachel, this is a freaking Marchesa dress, one does not jus shove it back into the box. And second of all, you are wearing it tonight whether you like it or not." He pushed the dress back into her hands and folded his arms over his chest.

"If you guys are sure you want me to have this dress…" She said wearily, standing to put the dress up to her. She had to admit it was a beautiful dress.

"We're positive, Rachel, now go get dressed, I'll be in there in like ten minutes to do your hair."

"Kurt, I can do my own…" she stopped as Kurt gave her a stern look. "Fine…"

"So, she just offered to go out tonight? There was no convincing needed?" Kurt whispered to Quinn.

"I think she offered because she was trying to change the subject. I set her up to think about Finn. I used the whole Leyton 'Who do you want standing next to you when all your dreams come true' quote on her, and she was like out of it for a minute."

"Nice job." Kurt offered his hand, which Quinn promptly high fived. "You are one evil girl, Quinn Fabray."

"And you love it." Quinn winked walking towards her room. "Now go get her ready, it's a big night."

Rachel heard Kurt knock and called for him to come in. She didn't want to look at herself until he was there. "Okay, so I didn't look yet, but it's actually pretty heavy." Rachel giggled, trying to zip the side of it.

"Here." He said, reaching over to zip the zipper for her. "There, now look at yourself stupid." She did as he commanded and gasped when she saw herself. The dress was nude in color with a gold embroider on the bodice and the a-line skirt. It was the most beautiful dress that Rachel had ever seen in her life, and she couldn't believe she was wearing it.

"I take that gasp as a good thing. Now let's do your hair." Kurt laughed. Rachel just nodded, sitting at her mirror, letting Kurt work his magic. He had decided on a simple bun on the back of her head, tendrils hanging from the side that framed her face perfectly. "I suppose I can trust you to do your own makeup so I can get ready?" Kurt winked. When he was gone, Quinn made her way into the room, looking almost as good as Rachel had. Almost.

"Kurt treated us both to pretty dresses today." Quinn smirked, adjusting the strap on her indigo Oscar de la Renta dress. "Isn't it great?" Quinn giggled.

"How the hell did Kurt afford these dresses? They have to cost at least five thousand each." Rachel frowned.

"Well, don't tell him I told you, but he got them for free. You know, Blaine's dad is one of the head honchos over at Bergdorf Goodman, so he got them for the best price ever." Her smile quickly turned into a frown. "But no seriously, don't tell him I told you, he'll kill me."

Rachel giggled. "I still don't understand why we're wearing these to the _sushi _place of all places."

"Why does it matter? Tonight your dreams came true, we're celebrating in the most beautiful dresses we will probably ever wear going to one of our favorite places in the whole city. Let's just enjoy tonight."

"You're right." Rachel smiled. "We deserve this. Hell, _I _deserve this."

"That's my girl." Kurt said from the doorway, decked out in what Rachel could only assume was also a designer suit. "Now if you ladies are fine with me looking better than both of you combined, let's go, shall we?" All three laughed as they linked arms, walking through the apartment.

"This is your night, Rachel Berry. Let's go party." Quinn smiled.

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><p>After earning very confused looks from people on the street, they finally made it to the sushi place. When they got to the door, Quinn spoke. "Rachel, I hope you don't mind, but me and Kurt invited a few people to eat with us."<p>

"Like Blaine and Puck? That's perfect, are they dressed as nice as us?" She joked stepping through the door. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight around her. Instead of the normal interior of the sushi bar, everything had been decorated with banners congratulating Rachel. Balloons and streamers hang from every tile in the ceiling, as well as the walls.

"SURPRISE!" was yelled from all around her as all of her family and friends poured out from behind whatever they were hiding behind. Her dads were the first ones she saw. They rushed over to her and enveloped her in an embrace. "We're so proud of you!" Hiram squealed. "Our baby, the Broadway star!"

"So very proud." Leroy said kissing the top of Rachel's head. When they finally let go of her, Rachel turned to Quinn and Kurt with a questioning look on her face.

"We planned this months ago, Rachel. When we found out the day of your audition, we set our plan into action. Why do you think you're dressed so nicely? We made it a very formal event, hence the suits and evening gowns surrounding you." Rachel's eyes scanned the room. Kurt was right, every person in the room was dressed formally, and they were all there for her.

"But how did you guys even know I was going to get the part? There was no way of knowing." Rachel said, tears in her eyes.

"Because Rachel, we know you, and we know how amazing you are. We knew from the second you said you had an audition that you were gonna kill it, and what did you do? You killed it. So this is for you. All of it." Quinn smiled. "Do you like it?"

"No, I don't like it." Rachel laughed at the crestfallen looks on her friends faces. "I love it." She stuck her tongue out.

"Well, then, let's go party!" Quinn announced, earning applause from the crowd of people.

Rachel made her way around the room, saying hello and accepting compliments and congratulations from everyone in the room. She finished her lap and ended up back with her group of friends, who were seated at the table by the fish tank, just like they always were. Rachel smiled as she sat down and leaned her head on Blaine's shoulder. "I take it that you had a major part in this, Mr. Anderson?" Playing with his tie.

"Well, it was only fair because you made sure the night I got engaged was perfect." Blaine said, kissing the top of Rachel's head. "I hope you love it. Kurt put all his blood sweat and tears into this. He ordered half of this stuff before you even got the auditioned." Rachel snorted.

"That sure does sound like Kurt." She laughed. "And I love it, thank you for being here for me and celebrating with me."

"You're welcome, and thanks for getting me front row seats for your first show." Blaine winked.

"Of course, I expect you all to be there." She looked at Puck. "Even you, Noah."

Puck rolled his eyes. "If you stop fucking calling me Noah I'll go." Quinn slapped him gently on the chest.

"Not going to happen." Rachel smiled. "I'll just give your ticket to Quinn, I'm sure she'll think of some way to get you to go." She winked.

Quinn smiled. "I can think of a few ways."

"So, Ms. Broadway star, how about a song?" Puck asked, wanting to change the subject as soon as possible.

"Yeah!" the rest of them agreed. Before Rachel could answer, Blaine made his way over to the stage.

"Hello everyone, thanks for coming tonight. As you all know, this is one of the most special nights ever. Our good friend, Rachel Berry was offered the role in a Broadway production of _Spring Awakening. _I can't even begin to describe how proud all of us are of her for this. And well I was just thinking that before she goes off and becomes a bona fide star, maybe she'll give us an intimate performance. What do you guys think?"

Rachel felt Quinn and Kurt grab her arms, lifting her from the booth and bringing her to the stage. She heard the applause and laughter around her as she ended up in the spotlight, Blaine hugging her tightly.

"Go get them, champ." Blaine said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Don't bother picking a song!" Kurt yelled to her. "Quinn and I picked one out for you, it's actually part of the reason I picked out that dress for you."

Rachel smiled as the first notes of the song played. She knew that the dress had reminded her of something, but she couldn't put her finger on what until now. Kurt had picked out a dress that looked very similar to the one that Taylor Swift had worn in her "Love Story" music video. The song that she was now going to sing.

"_We were both young when I first saw you._

_I close my eyes and the flashback starts:_

_I'm standing there on a balcony in summer air._

_See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns._

_See you make your way through the crowd_

_And say, "Hello,"_

_Little did I know..._

_That you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles,_

_And my daddy said, "Stay away from Juliet"_

_And I was crying on the staircase_

_Begging you, "Please don't go"_

_And I said..._

_Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone._

_I'll be waiting; all that's left to do is run._

_You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess,_

_It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"."_

Her friends and family were all on their feet now, surrounding the stage. She smiled at the feeling of people adoring her voice like this, feeling so grateful that her job was now to sing to people who pay to hear her.

_So I sneak out to the garden to see you._

_We keep quiet 'cause we're dead if they knew_

_So close your eyes... escape this town for a little while._

_Oh, oh._

She laughed as she saw Kurt and Quinn singing along, screaming their hearts out to the words. She had to admit, they picked a really good song, they had both known it was a favorite of hers, and how it had been the song she sang to her agent after he asked if she really wanted to be on Broadway. Sure it had nothing to do with the situation but it didn't matter.

_Romeo, save me, I've been feeling so alone._

_I keep waiting for you but you never come._

_Is this in my head? I don't know what to think._

_He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said..._

Suddenly, the power went out, cutting Rachel off before she could finish. She heard someone scream, as well as a thump behind her. She laughed as she heard Kurt yell to everyone to calm down and that it was no big deal that it was dark in here because he couldn't see the gross outfits some people were wearing.

The lights flickered back on and Rachel was relieved to see everything was okay. As the music resumed, she tried to sing, but her microphone wouldn't work. A voice from behind her made her turn to see Finn. She gasped when she saw him, not sure of what to do. Half of her wanted to slap him across the face, and the other half wanted to kiss him until her lips chapped. Before she could do either, Finn got on one knee.

"Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone. I love you, and that's all I really know. I talked to your dad ‒ go pick out a white dress. It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"." He sang along, his eyes pleading at her.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she looked to the crowd for her friends. She saw them instantly, their eyes on her nodding their heads mouthing at her to "say yes". She turned back to Finn who was still on his knee, still looking at her with longing in his eyes. Before she could open her mouth he spoke.

"Rachel, I need you to know that I didn't sleep with Santana. In fact I fired her that afternoon so my guess is that she just answered my phone because she was pissed at me. Baby, I love you, more than anyone in the world, and I was gonna do this at the tree lot before you left me." Rachel saw tears forming in his eyes as he continued. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I want you forever, Rach. This is my mother's ring, the one my dad gave to her when they got engaged. And when we went to Lima, part of it was for Christmas, but the other part…" he gulped. "The other part was to get this. Baby, if I didn't love you, why would I have gotten this?" She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Rachel, you are my life. And I didn't plan on falling for you so hard and so fast but I did. The love I have for you hit me like a freaking freight train, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love you Rachel Barbara Berry. I have loved you ever since I saw you in that nightclub holding up a highly intoxicated Kurt. And if you still love me back, would you please do me the honor of being my wife?"

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><p><strong>;)<br>If you would like to see the fabulous dresses Kurt picked out for the girls, I'll post it to my Tumblr.  
>Finchelislove = Forever<br>Taylor Swift; "Love Story" **


	18. dreaming dreams with happy endings

**Well, here we go. I know it's been a while, and I left you there with a big cliffhanger. But for a desperate plea for forgiveness, here's the last chapter! (Or maybe not because I don't really want to leave it with an odd amount of chapters after the epilogue, but we'll see.) I hope you guys like it. I tried to make it seem sort of realistic.**

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><p>Of two things Rachel was absolutely certain. One, was that her dream had come true. The thing that she had been working for her whole life had become a reality, and she couldn't be happier. The second thing Rachel knew was certain was her feelings for Finn, but she didn't want their reunion to be like this, under these circumstances. Sure, if this would have happened after they had a full conversation for the first time in months, she would have said yes in a heartbeat, but right now, she had other things to say than yes. "Finn…" she breathed, reaching out for his hands. "Can we go somewhere private please?" He just looked at her, fear apparent in his eyes. She knew that look, it was one she only usually saw when they fought. His 'fear of losing Rachel Berry' look.<p>

He nodded and got up off the floor. She saw him look towards Quinn and Kurt, hoping for some sort of an answer for her actions. Before they could react, she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bathroom of the bar, locking the door behind them. Finn raised his eyebrow at her as she turned to him. Before he had the chance to say anything, she reached up and slapped him across the face. She felt slightly guilty about slapping him right after he had proposed to her, but she regained her vices and spoke. "How dare you? How dare you come here and propose to me after you haven't spoken to me in months? You go behind my back and talk to all my friends and have them help you pull off this little stunt so that I would have to say yes to you? Are you fucking crazy?"

"Rach, that's not what-"

"No. Do not speak." She said, moving closer to him. "You don't get to speak. Do you know how heartbroken I've been the past few months? That I thought you had sex with that slut of a secretary you have? And the one time I did actually speak to you, you interrupted our conversation to talk to the slut?" She held up her hand to slap him again, but he grabbed her wrist before she made contact. Before she had an opportunity to speak again, his lips were on hers. As soon as their lips made contact, she lost all of her willpower. Her anger turned to passion as she pushed him against the bathroom stall, her hands in his hair.

When they pulled away for air, he spoke. "She wasn't on the phone that night." Rachel pulled her lips away from his neck to look at him, confusion apparent on her face. "My mom called me that night. Apparently, Santana had gotten a hold of her, told her that I was sending her the ring back. I guess she was just trying to stir the pot eve-" Rachel cut him off with her lips on his again.

He groaned her name as she rubbed her hands across his chest, slowly peeling off his suit jacket. When they rid him of that, she started unbuttoning his shirt, kissing his skin as it became exposed. She felt him reach behind her and try to unclasp the dress and she shoved his hands off her. She smiled at the confused expression on his face. "Kurt will kill me if I ruin this dress." She turned, her back now facing him. She felt his fingers grasp the zipper, and slowly unzip it.

She didn't know if he was doing it slowly to make sure the dress wasn't harmed, or he just wanted to take in the view of her bareback, but he wasn't moving fast enough for her. When she felt the dress completely open in the back, she chucked it off of her, carefully laying it over the stall. When she turned back to Finn, she saw his eyes roaming her nearly naked form. She began to feel self conscious, which was silly because she still looked the same as she did before, but this was different.

He must have read her mind, because he walked up to her and pulled her into an embrace. "What?" She asked, her lips kissing his bare chest.

"I just, really love you." He breathed, pulling her face to his for a deep kiss.

"I love you too." She whispered against his lips. They kissed again causing a fire to slowly burn in the pit of her stomach. She didn't realize just how perfect she had fit in his arms until they encircled her, cradling her to his chest as he lifted her to sit on the counter. She moaned as he kissed her neck, hitting just the right spot. "Finny." She whispered between kisses.

"God, I've missed you so much." He groaned, kissing every inch of her bare skin his mouth could reach.

"Yes." She said softly. Finn cocked his head at her. "My answer. It's yes." She smiled, taking one of his hands in hers. She saw her favorite smile pull onto his lips as he understood what he meant. Sparing no second, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the box that he had offered her minutes before. She gasped again when he opened it, still amazed by how beautiful it was.

"Will you marry me, Rach?" He asked again, taking the ring out of the box, slipping it on her left ring finger.

"Yes, Finny, I will marry you." She smiled. Before she could even see the ring on her own finger, his lips attached themselves to hers, causing the fire to erupt in her stomach once again. Not being able to resist him anymore, and not wanting to, Rachel pulled at Finn's belt, and shoved down his pants. He stepped out of them, lips still attached to hers.

She groaned as she felt Finn's fingers push aside her underwear and touch her sensitive skin. "Baby- so wet." He moaned, as she reached into his boxers, grabbing his erection. "Ugh, I want you so bad." He felt him slip a finger inside of her.

"Then take me." She said, pushing down his boxers with her feet. He didn't need to be told twice, as he removed his hand, positioning himself at her entrance. They both groaned as he entered her, thrusting hard and fast. She kissed him all over his chest, not wanting to leave any spot of his skin left unkissed.

Rachel pulled him toward her, their bare chests rubbing as Finn thrust into her. Now that she had him again, she never wanted to let him go. She had been completely stupid in her assumption that he had slept with Santana. And the more she thought about it, she realized that she had been stupid about everything that had happened between them. Sure, he had lied to her, but as she made love to her fiancée, she realized that she was the biggest fool in the world for letting him go, even if she had gotten him back.

She was brought out of her thoughts however when she felt him reach in between them his fingers rubbing her clit. She kissed him hard, his mouth swallowing of her noise of pleasure. She could feel herself getting close.

"Come for me baby, I want you to come for me." He whispered. He knew how much she liked when he talked dirty. And when his fingers found just the right spot, Rachel tumbled over the edge, writhing in pleasure. As she came down, she felt him release, whispering her name as he did. She kissed his cheek as he lay his head on her shoulder.

"I love you, Finn." He lifted his head to kiss her on the lips. He cupped her face in his hand.

"I have always loved you, Rachel." He smiled, grabbing her hand and kissing the ring that was placed there. She wound her arms around his neck, pressing her forehead to his, giggling.

A knock at the door alerted them to the rest of the world around them. "Yeah?" Rachel called, trying to sound as if she hadn't just had sex in the bathroom of the bar that she regularly attended. A familiar voice responded.

"Rachel, if you ruined that dress while you were fornicating in the bathroom, I swear to you, I will kill you before you even get the chance to marry that man." Kurt threatened.

"Don't worry, the dress is safe, she made sure of it." Finn said, pulling on his boxers.

"Good. Now in case you have forgotten, Rachel, you do have guests out here, including your fathers, who I'm guessing have a pretty good idea what has been happening the last few minutes that you both have disappeared." Rachel blushed at Kurt's words. "And if you want them to not have a tainted view of their daughter, I would get your boney ass back out into your party, otherwise I will come in there and make you, naked or not." She heard Kurt's designer shoes click back down the hallway before she burst out into laughter.

"He is kinda right," she said, sliding her, still in perfect condition dress, back onto her body as Finn redressed himself. "It was kind of bad of me to leave my own party, especially after how hard they worked on it."

"Agreed." He was fully dressed by the time she got the zipper on her dress up. Damn Kurt and his need for her to look fantastic. Finn took her hand as he unlocked the bathroom door, leading her through it and down the hallway back to her friends and family.

As they entered the room, silence fell upon the guests, and Rachel saw Kurt and Quinn look at her expectantly. She looked at Finn, who's eyes were shining with joy as he pulled her close to his side. "I'm engaged!" Rachel squealed, holding up her hand to show everyone her ring. Applause erupted around her for the second time that evening, and Rachel decided that she liked the reason they were applauding now, more than the first time they had.

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><p>Rachel made her rounds around the room again, but this time, she had Finn tucked to her side as she did. She smiled as everyone she talked to told her how amazingly sweet Finn was, knowing he was standing right there. She smiled back telling them how she already knew that, squeezing his hand as she did. When they got to her dads however, Rachel felt a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Hi Dad, Daddy!" she said as they both hugged her.<p>

"Congratulations, Berry Pie." Hiram said, smiling at them both. Rachel was very confused. As Leroy spoke.

"I'm so happy for you, Baby Doll, all of your dreams are coming true aren't they?" kissing the top of her head.

"Wait," Rachel said, pulling away from all of them. "The last time that you met Finn, I distinctly remember you not approving of him." Leroy opened his mouth to speak. "I told him, don't even bother trying to hide your distaste for my relationship. I don't want you to be fake happy for me Dad. I know that he didn't do the traditional thing like ask you both first for your permission to propose to me, but Finn is the man that I love, and you're going to have to accept that."

"Well that was all very true at one point, Rachel, but not so much the last part. He actually did ask for our permission." Rachel's eyes widened.

"What?"

"Finn asked us for our permission to marry you, Rachel." Hiram said smiling at Finn. "About a week ago actually." Rachel turned to look at Finn who was rubbing the back of his neck.

"What?" He said, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. "I know that's what you're supposed to do."

"H- How?"

_"Now, Finn." Kurt said, walking back and forth in front of Finn. "If you're going to pull this off, there are a few things that we're going to have to do. The first of which, you're going to ask her dads for her hand in marriage."_

_ "Well, I can't exactly do that if they hate me." Finn frowned._

_ "They don't hate you, they just think Rachel deserves better-"_

_ "Stop that Kurt." Quinn scolded, taking a seat next to Finn on the couch. "But he has a point, she's very traditional in that sense. And I have a feeling that has to do with her father's influence."_

_ "But we had to leave the dinner because Rachel got so mad at them." Finn sighed, putting his face in his hands._

_ "Then we're going to have to find a way that they refuse to say no." Kurt said, pulling out his phone._

_ "But what if they say no?" he asked, not looking up from his hands._

_ "They're not gonna say no." Quinn rubbed his back. "They know how much Rachel cares about you. She doesn't just do her famous storm out unless she's very passionate about what she fought about." Kurt held up his hand to silence them._

_ "Hi, Mr. Berry. Kurt Hummel. I have some things regarding Rachel's surprise party that I need to discuss with you, is there any time that I could meet with you and your husband and discuss them?" Finn stared as Kurt nodded his head to whatever Rachel's dad or daddy or whoever it is was saying. "Sounds perfect, thank you Mr. Berry." Kurt snapped the phone shut. "Okay, tomorrow we're meeting with them for lunch, and we're going to sort this whole thing out."_

_ Finn sighed. "Don't worry, Finn. It's gonna be fine." Quinn smiled as Kurt walked to the kitchen. "And don't worry, I'll be there too, so you don't have to deal with them all by yourself." She whispered, offering Finn her fist. Finn smiled and pounded his fist to hers. _

_ "Thanks, Quinn." Finn laughed. "I literally would be scared out of my mind if I had to deal with them all together by myself." _

_ "Yeah, well you can pay me back by getting Puckerman to propose to me now. I'm the only one not engaged." She pouted, then smiled. "And listen Finn, I'm really sorry about all of this, it feels like it's all my fault you broke up in the first place."_

_ "Don't. It's okay, Quinn. Yeah sure, you asked me to cover for you, but I was the one who had the opportunity to tell her the truth at any point." Quinn squeezed his hand._

_ "Thanks."_

_ Finn gulped as the three of them made their way into the restaurant. Kurt led the way, as usual, towards the hostess who pointed them in the direction of Finn's doom. As they approached the table, he saw a look of confusion pass over both Berry men. "What's he doing here?" Leroy asked, pointing at Finn angrily. "He broke my Rachel's heart, just like I thought he would, I don't want him here."_

_ "Mr. Berry, with all due respect, Finn is here to talk to you about that whole situation and help with Rachel's party." Kurt said as Quinn took her seat at the table. "I know how much Rachel would appreciate it if you just listened to what he had to say."_

_ Hiram nodded and took his seat, pulling his husband down as he did. "Fine, I'll listen, but that's it. And I don't want him to show up to the party." Leroy scolded. _

_ "Well, Mr. and Mr. Berry, I'm actually going to be there." Finn said, sitting down. "That's why I'm here. Listen, I know you don't like me, and now you both really have a reason to hate me. But I just- it would mean a lot to me, if I could explain everything that has happened over the last few months to you." _

_ "Alright, that's fair son." Hiram answered. _

_ "Thank you." Finn started to tell them his story. Their story. He held nothing back, well except for the sex stuff cause he didn't think that Rachel would appreciate her father's knowing about that. As he spoke, Hiram seemed to actually care about what he was saying, while Leroy just sat staring at the wall. But, when Finn got to the part about Rachel talking to his dad's urn, Leroy's attention snapped to Finn._

_ "What did you say?" Finn was surprised when Leroy spoke so he repeated himself._

_ "Uh, well, when Rach came back to my house, I introduced her to my father, well it's not really my dad, my dad's ashes. She just sat there talking to him about how much she loved me and stuff." He bowed his head thinking about how much he loved her in that moment._

_ Leroy turned to his husband, mouth slightly open in shock. "You're aware of your daughter's fear of that stuff, aren't you Leroy?" Hiram asked his husband. Finn was very confused as he looked around the table at Kurt and Quinn who also looked shock._

_ "What?" Finn asked. Quinn was the one to answer._

_ "Rachel has a big fear of death. She doesn't go to wakes or funerals or graveyards. She closes her eyes if she passes one of those places that makes tombstones. It's irrational, but it's Rachel. The fact that she talked to your dad, that's very unlike her." Finn felt his heart swell._

_ "Do you see, Leroy, that our daughter really must love this boy if she did that. Voluntarily as it seems. Honey, maybe we were wrong originally." _

_ "That doesn't change anything, he still broke her heart." Leroy was curt._

_ "It changes everything and you know it." Hiram sighed. "Do you really think that he's here because of her party? Berry Pie has said they haven't talked in months, and now here he is meeting with her dads?" He turned to Finn. "Where is the ring?"_

_ "What?" Finn asked, looking at Kurt for any sign of support._

_ "The ring, as soon as I saw you walk into this resturaunt, I knew that you were here to ask for our daughter's hand, now let me see the ring." Leroy shook his head at his husband._

_ "Um, well…" Finn reached into his pocket pulling out the black velvet box. He slowly opened the cover and heard Hiram gasp when he saw the ring._

_ "Finn, this is beautiful."_

_ "Thanks, it was actually the ring that my father gave my mother when they got engaged. I knew the second that Rachel talked to my dad like that, I wanted to marry her. So I got the ring, and I was going to propose to her, but you know, stuff happened."_

_ "Well, Finn, you have my permission." Hiram smiled, passing the box back to Finn. Leroy looked at Hiram._

_ "Why would you go and do that?" he said._

_ "Because whether you like it or not Leroy, our daughter loves this boy more than either one of us can imagine. Sure, maybe we think that she might deserve a Broadway co-star or someone like that Jesse St. James boy from her last production." Finn didn't know whether or not to be offended as Hiram continued. "You know deep in your heart how much Finn loves Rachel, and how much she loves him back. Are you really going to lose your daughter over something stupid like not wanting her to marry someone like Finn?"_

_ Leroy sighed. "If I say yes," he said turning towards Finn, "You better not hold her back from any of her dreams."_

_ "I would never. I know that she's going to be famous one day, and I will be there when she accepts her Tony." Leroy smiled at him._

_ "Good answer, Kid."_

Rachel looked at the men surrounding her. "So, after all that, you still don't like him?"

"No, sweetie, because as lunch progressed, I felt the disapproval replace with approval. And by the time we left, I knew just why you wanted to be with him. You're tethered." He said simply.

Finn looked at Rachel confused. "What?" She asked, trying to resolve her and Finn's confusion.

Hiram and Leroy laughed. "The Chinese have this thing, it's called 'The Red String Theory'. It basically says that there is an invisible red thread that connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. Through time, the thread may stretch or tangle…" Rachel took Finn's hand in hers, intertwining their fingers. "but will never break."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay guys, what did you think?<br>****I hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it.  
>There will be an epilogue coming up soon, so keep your eyes peeled, our adventure isn't done yet.<strong>

**Song credit as usual goes to Ms. Taylor Swift, this time for "Eyes Open".  
>A very special thanks to my love Finchelislove, without her, this story wouldn't have even came to be.<br>Review/Like/Subscribe. It all means the world to me. :)  
>3<strong>


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